VC Artist Diyang Mei Appointed Berlin Philharmonic Principal Violist

In this new role at the Berlin Philharmonic, VC Artist Diyang Mei will become the first Chinese musician to be given a position with the orchestra.

A previous first prize winner at the Markneukirchen, Max Rostal, Brahms, and ARD International Viola Competitions, he currently serves as principal violist of the Munich Philharmonic.

Born in Hunan in 1994, Mei studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing under Shaowu Wang, the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under Hariolf Schlichtig, and continued his studies with Nobuko Imai at the Kronberg Academy.

He has performed as a soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, among others.

Supported by the Yu Art Foundation in China, Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and Yehudi Menuhin LMN e.V. scholarship, his Giovanni Pistucci instrument from 1890 was provided to him by the Florian Leonhard Fine Violins in England.

Also at the Berlin Philharmonic, two other violinists qualified for probationary periods: Vineta Sareika-Völkner and Christa-Maria Stangorra, a scholarship holder of the Karajan Academy.