Praised for displaying “great poise and masterful technique” and possessing “an amazing rich tone” by The Day, cellist Yi Qun Xu has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States.

 

Yi Qun is the recipient of the 2022 Presser Music Award as well as the first-prize winner of the 2021 New York International Artists Cello Competition. As the winner of the 2018 Sanders-Juilliard-Tel Aviv Museum prize, she was presented in recital at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel. She was invited to perform at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Cellists of Lincoln Center Concert and the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival. She is also the first prize winner at the 58th Eastern Connecticut Symphony Instrumental Competition as well as the 7th International Antonio Janigro Competition in Croatia.

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Yi Qun is a faculty member of The Juilliard School for their Pre-College and Music Advancement Program, as well as a Teaching Assistant of Joel Krosnick. Yi Qun also has been a faculty member of many summer programs such as the Perlman Music program, Heifetz International Music Institute, Interlochen Arts Center Adult Music Camp, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival’s Adult Chamber Music Institute,, and ArtsAhimsa Music Festival. She has taught cello master classes at University of North Dakota, Bak Middle School for the Arts, and Saco River Theatre.

 

She has performed for community engagement events for communities in Los Angeles, Maine, New York City, New Hampshire, Palm Beach, Shelter Island, Tianjin, Beijing, and Shanghai in China.

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She has also been part of music festivals such as Perlman Music Program, Heifetz International Music Institute, International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, Kneisel Hall Music Festival, Music@Menlo, the Olympic Music Festival, and Piatigorsky International Cello Festival.

 

She has collaborated with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Hsin-Yun Huang, Carter Brey, Timothy Eddy, David Finckel, Ralph Kirshbaum, Merry Peckham, and members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Tokyo, Ébène Quartets.

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A protégé of Timothy Eddy, Ronald Leonard, Laurence Lesser, and Joel Krosnick.

She is a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School, where she was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. Her performances are featured on Alec Baldwin’s podcast “Here is the Thing” and WQXR’s “Midday Masterpieces.” Yi Qun will be joining the Musicians from Marlboro tour (2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons).

 

She recently made her first short-film appearance in composer Lingbo Ma’s musical film, What’s Next, a short film documenting a person’s inner journey of struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Yi Qun is the founding co-Artistic Director of Noree Chamber Soloists, a New York-based chamber music ensemble.