Strings

The Cassatt String Quartet has announced violist and NEC alumna Emily Brandenburg ’15 MM as its new member. Brandenburg will succeed Rosemary Nelis, who joined the group in 2022 and is leaving to focus on other projects. Other quartet members include violinists Jennifer Leshnower and Muneko Otani, who studied at NEC in the '80s, and cellist Gwen Krosnick ’13 MM.

Violinist and NEC alumnus Liyuan Xie ’22 has been appointed the Cleveland Orchestra’s first associate concertmaster. 

This spring at NEC, a group of violin students in faculty member Ayano Ninomiya's studio arranged the Dichterliebe song cycle, composed for voice by Robert Schumann based on the poetry of German romantic poet Heinrich Heinne, for the violin. The students collaborated to develop a new musical notation system they could use as they translated the scores of each song. After weeks of experimenting, integrating new skills, and receiving coaching from Ninomiya and guest faculty Tanya Blaich, students presented the final cycle—fully reimagined for the violin.

Violinist Joshua Brown ’22, ’24 MM, ’26 AD won Second Prize at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, along with both audience prizes. He receives €20,000 and concert opportunities in Belgium and abroad for his win. Fellow NEC alumni Julian Rhee ’22, ’24 MM and Minami Yoshida ’21, ’24 MM also finished as laureates, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.  

Built in 1711 and donated to NEC in 1999 by alumna John Hsu ’53, ’55 MM, ’71 hon. DM, the Tecchler is one of the finest instruments in NEC’s collection and is among the few offered to students in an annual in-house competition. The remarkable instrument underwent a significant restoration throughout the last year before being offered recently to cellist Annie Hyung ’25 MM, its new holder for 2024-2025.

Cellist Leland Ko ’24 AD and violinist Nathan Amaral ’24 GC are two of the four winners of the 2024 Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, announced May 10. 

Eighteen-year-old violinist Keila Wakao ’29, a current NEC Preparatory School student enrolling at the college this fall, will make her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut during the BSO's Opening Night Gala concert in September 2024 under music director Andris Nelsons. The BSO’s invitation follows her Grand Prize in the 2023 Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.

World-renowned violinist and three-time Grammy Award winner Hilary Hahn hosted a master class to a packed house in New England Conservatory's Williams Hall featuring violin students Yirou Ronnie Zhang ’26, David Carreon ’25 MM, and Emma Boyd ’25.

NOX Quartet, comprising NEC students violinists Ava Kenney ’27 and Eleanor Markey ’27, violist Yu-Heng Wang ’27, and cellist Ari Freed ’24, won second prize at the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition on April 20, 2024.