Yi Qun Xu

Biography

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. A native of China, Yi Qun was mesmerized by the cello soon after her eighth birthday. She came to the U.S. after studying with Yuan Chen and Yi-Bing Chu at China’s Central Conservatory of Music, where she won multiple top prizes in Chinese national cello competitions.

Yi Qun is the Prima Finalist of the 2019 International Cello Competition Benedetto Mazzacurati. As the winner of the 2018 Sanders-Juilliard-Tel Aviv Museum prize, she was presented in recital at the influential Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel. 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.

As a passionate chamber musician, she has been heard at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Cellists of Lincoln Center Concert and the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival. Yi Qun has been an active participant of the inspirational Perlman Music Program, founded by Toby and Itzhak Perlman. She has also been part of music festivals such as 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, members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Tokyo, Ébène Quartets.

As a teacher and musical ambassador, Yi Qun has worked with chamber music groups at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival’s Adult Chamber Music Institute and ArtsAhimsa Music Festival. She has taught master classes as a guest artist at the 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.

A protégé of Timothy Eddy, Ronald Leonard, and Laurence Lesser, she studies with Joel Krosnick as 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 season).

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. Yi Qun has a great appreciation of the beauty and subtlety of art, especially contemporary art. She draws and learns about astrology in her leisure time.

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