An exceptional musician renowned for her fluid technique, gorgeous tone, and brilliantly expressive performances, Hai-Ye Ni enjoys a distinguished career as principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and as a sought-after soloist and chamber musician. Praised by the press as “soulfully expressive” (Washington Post), Ms.Ni has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Finnish Radio, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Ni first came into prominence when she won the first prize of the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and made her greatly acclaimed Alice Tully Hall recital debut. She became principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2006. Prior to that, Ms.Ni held the position of associate principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic. She was a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two. Other honors and awards include a 2001 Avery Fisher Career Grant, first prize in the 1996 International Paulo Cello Competition(Finland), and second prize of the 1997 Rostropovich Competition (France).
In the summer of 2025, Ms.Ni performed at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and the National Orchestra Institute at the University of Maryland. In 2023, she performed the Barber concerto with the Apollo orchestra in Washington, DC, Hai-Ye made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2010 in Saint-Saëns concerto. She was also featured with the ensemble in Tan Dun’s The Map, Concerto for Cello, Video, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, the Brahms “Double” Concerto, Haydn C major, and the Beethoven Triple Concerto.
Highlights of Hai-Ye’s past performances include an All Baroque concertos program with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra as soloist and conductor. Her recital credits include the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, NCPA(Beijing), Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, New England Conservatory, and the Wallace Collection in London. She has performed at festivals such as Marlboro, La Jolla SummerFest, Sarasota, Chambermusic Dolomites(Italy), the Pacific Music Festival, Aspen, Kuhmo(Finland), and Spoleto(Italy),
Hai-Ye has collaborated with artists such as Jeffrey Kahane, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, and Leonidas Kavakos. In 2010, Hai-Ye performed with Lang Lang at Carnegie in a special concert Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture. Ms. Ni has been featured in the Strad magazine, Strings magazine and on NPR. Her debut solo CD on the Naxos label was named CD of the week by Classic FM London, and her CD Spirit of Chimes (Delos) is a collaboration with violinist Cho-Liang Lin of music by composer Zhou Long.
Ms. Ni served on the jury of Finland’s V International Paulo Cello Competition in 2013 and has given master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. Born in Shanghai, China, Hai-Ye began cello studies with her mother and at the Shanghai Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, and William Pleeth in London.
