HAI-YE NI, Cello

"...an incredibly pure and well intonated, captivatingly beautiful manner"
-- Iltalehti, Helsinki

Photo: Beryl Tobin

One of the most accomplished young cellists of our time, Hai-Ye Ni is currently principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She came into prominence via her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991. This noted performance came as a result of Ms. Ni capturing the first prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and thus becoming the youngest recipient to receive this distinguished award. In 1996, Ms. Ni was the unanimous choice for first prize in the International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland. In 2001 she received the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Ms. Ni's performance with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach was a highlight of 1997, a year which also included winning second prize in the International Rostropovich Competition in France, as well as a 14-city tour of the U.S. introducing Bright Sheng's new cello concerto "Two Poems," for which she was recommended by Yo-Yo Ma. During the 1998-99 season, Ms. Ni performed at Lincoln Center as a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society II. She also performed in recital in London, at Harvard University and at the Freer Gallery/Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC with Cho-Liang Lin. The 1999-2000 season saw Ms. Ni's appointment as associate principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic, while in 2001 she made her Kennedy Center debut.

Ms. Ni's many engagements include the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the Odense (Denmark) Symphony; the International Cello Festival in Brazil, the Kuhmo Festival/Finland, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, as well as the Naantali Festival in Finland. She has also had return engagements with the Ravinia Festival, the Finnish Radio Symphony, Spoleto/Italy, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony, Korsholm/Finland, and the Peninsula Festival. Ms. Ni participated in the Marlboro Music Festival and the Steans Institute for Young Artists/Ravinia, and has performed with such artists as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell, Emanuel Pahud, Leonidas Kavakos, Barry Douglas, Ida Kavafian, Pinchas Zukerman, David Shifrin and Bobby McFerrin.

Ms. Ni's performances have been broadcast throughout the USA on National Public Radio. She was featured on the ABC television show "20/20" and on a PBS documentary of the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition in Moscow. Her performance of Bright Sheng's concerto was aired on "CBS Sunday Morning". She was the cover story in the May/June 1997 issue of Strings magazine and is featured along with Yo-Yo Ma in the book Twenty-first Century Cellists. Ms Ni's first solo CD, on the Naxos label, was chosen CD of the week by Classic FM, London. Ms. Ni's other awards include the 1995 SONY ES Career Award, and the best performance prize of Tchaikovsky at the 1994 International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow.

Born in Shanghai in 1972, Hai-Ye began her cello studies with her mother and later at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Hai-Ye continued her musical education with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School of Music, and with William Pleeth in London.

"...cellist Hai-Ye Ni... sounded like the youthful Yo-Yo Ma... a technique that simply took no account of difficulties... with a beautifully controlled cantabile line, soulfully expressive... brightly aware... she ran brilliantly through all its obstacles."
-- Washington Post

"In the performing world, great value is placed on interpretive freedom and the individuality it represents. Paradoxically this freedom is most evident when musicians control their instruments thoroughly and play with both discipline and a fully grounded sense of style. These were among the qualities that distinguished Hai-Ye Ni's cello playing last Monday evening, when she made her New York debut at Alice Tully Hall... The work's demands gave Miss Ni an opportunity to display a stunning technique and, more crucially, to show that she regards technique as a means, not an end."
-- New York Times

Booking: Diane Saldick
email diane.saldick@verizon.net - phone/fax 212-213-3430

Hai-Ye Ni can be contacted by email at Haiye@haiyeni.com