Performances + Events
New England Conservatory is proud to congratulate two 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients who are members of the Conservatory’s community. Cellist Leland Ko ’15 Prep, ’24 AD and violinist Keila Wakao ’24 Prep, ’28 have been named grant recipients and will perform and be celebrated tonight in a ceremony at WQXR’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in New York City. Each grant awardee receives a $25,000 award for career advancement and is offered unrestricted use of the recording of their performance at the ceremonial event.
“Leland and Keila exemplify the exceptional artistry and creativity that NEC fosters, and we are immensely proud to see them recognized with the prestigious 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant,” NEC President Andrea Kalyn said. “They are inspiring ambassadors for the future of music, and we look forward to following their continued success as they advance their professional careers.”
Ko attended NEC’s Preparatory School and earned his Artist Diploma from NEC. Wakao, too, attended NEC Prep. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at NEC. Ko and Wakao follow numerous NEC-affiliated musicians who’ve received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant since it was first awarded in 1976.
The Avery Fisher Artist Program was established in 1974 by the late Avery Fisher as part of a major gift to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and serves as a monument to his philanthropy and love of classical music. The Career Grants illustrate his commitment to supporting young artists.
About Leland Ko
Cellist Leland Philip Ko is the kind of person who is always asking “why?” American-born but of Chinese-Canadian descent, schooled at both university and conservatory, and extremely thorough in any number of activities ranging from competitive tennis and distance-running to home-baking and origami, he seeks to find the similarities between seemingly disparate things and in doing so hopes to find something human in everything.
Described as someone with “disarming charisma” (South Florida Classical Review), yet simultaneously as someone “Byronic” and “excelling in both poetic longing and dramatic outbursts” (Boston Classical Review), Ko has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across the United States and abroad. He is a first-prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition.
Highlights of the 2025–2026 season include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and the DuPage Symphony, and performances at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Ko was a longtime student of Kirsten Peltz and NEC faculty members Ronald Lowry and Paul Katz before attending Princeton University, where he graduated with Bachelor or Arts degree in German Literature. He went on to complete a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under the teaching of Minhye Clara Kim, Timothy Eddy, and Natasha Brofsky, and then earned an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory under the guidance of Laurence Lesser, Yeesun Kim, and Donald Weilerstein.
About Keila Wakao
Keila Wakao made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at the BSO’s Season Opening Night Gala in September 2024 under the direction of Andris Nelsons. She was also invited to be the sole performer at the unveiling of a sculpture of Seiji Ozawa at Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood in July 2025, an event attended by members of Seiji Ozawa’s family, John Williams, and other distinguished guests. In November 2025, Wakao premiered Bobby Ge’s Violin Concerto with Maestro David Allan Miller and the Albany Symphony. In January 2026, she recorded her debut album, which is scheduled for release by Octavia Records later this year. In July, Wakao will make her Tanglewood Music Festival debut with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing Barber’s Violin Concerto.
Wakao won the junior division of the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition, along with the Composer Award (best interpretation of the commissioned piece), and was awarded the Gold Medal and Bach Prize at the 2021 Stulberg String Competition. In 2023, she received the Aoyama Music Foundation Award in Japan, and the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. Wakao also received the 2024 Next Generation Distinguished Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Boston.
Born in 2006, Wakao began playing the violin at age 3 and studied with NEC faculty member Donald Weilerstein from age 9. Currently, she is studying at New England Conservatory on a Starling Foundation Full Scholarship with Miriam Fried. Wakao has performed worldwide at such venues as Symphony Hall (Boston), Cadogan Hall (London), Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore), and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York). She made her solo debut with an orchestra at age 9 and has performed with such ensembles as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, Wakao performed and spoke at TEDxBoston. She also participated in the Perlman Music Program during the summers of 2018 through 2022.
Wakao plays on the Cremona 1690 “Theodor” Stradivarius violin, on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
Learn more about Leland Ko, Keila Wakao, and the Avery Fisher Artist Program.
