Frank Xin Huang (born September 5, 1978) is a Chinese-born American

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and teacher. Since 2015 he has been the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

. Previous to his position in New York, Huang was the first violinist of the

Ying Quartet Ying may refer to: People * Yíng (嬴), a Chinese surname, the ancestral name of Qin Shi Huang, first Emperor of China in the Qin Dynasty, and some contemporary rival royal families such as the Zhaos * Yīng (应), a Chinese surname from the Zh ...

and a professor of violin and chamber music at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

, then served as the concertmaster of the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, ...

from 2010 to 2015. He has won several international music competitions, most notably the 2003 Naumburg Competition. Huang has concertized widely as a soloist, and his debut recording on

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

was critically acclaimed.

Early life and musical training

Frank Huang was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and moved to the United States when he was two, living with his grandparents until age seven, when his parents joined him in the U.S. As a child in the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

area, he began violin lessons with his mother then commenced study with Fredell Lack in Houston. He first soloed with orchestra at nine. At 10 he received eight curtain calls for his solo performance of Wieniawski's ''Scherzo Tarantelle'' with the Houston Youth Symphony Philharmonia Orchestra. At 11 Huang was a soloist with the

in a nationally broadcast performance. At 16 he enrolled in the pre-college program at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein; he continued studies with Weilerstein in college and earned his

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...

degree from CIM in 2002. Subsequently, he attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, studying violin briefly with Robert Mann.

Career

As a winner of several international music competitions (see "Awards and distinctions" below), Frank Huang is much in demand as a soloist, both in recital and with orchestra, and as a chamber musician. Huang performed his New York debut recital at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

in 2004 to high acclaim (see "Reviews and commentary," below). He has performed as a soloist with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

, the Genoa Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Ci ...

, the NDR-Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Hanover, and others. Huang has appeared on '' American Morning'' (

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), '' Good Morning America'' ( ABC), and ''

Performance Today ''Performance Today'' is a Peabody Award-winning classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listen ...

'' (

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

). He has performed at many of the most prestigious music festivals in the U.S., including the Caramoor Festival, the

Marlboro Music Festival The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in ses ...

, and Ravinia, and has participated in The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS II program.

Awards and distinctions

*3rd prize, 1999 Ima Hogg National Young Artist Competition,

*2nd prize, 1999 Premio Paganini International Violin Competition,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

*1st prize, Kingsville International Competition,

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi and Harlingen, Kingsville is the principal city of the Kingsville Micr ...

*1st prize, 1999 Irving M. Klein International String Competition,

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

*1st prize, 2000 D’Angelo International Competition,

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*1st prize, 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition *4th place laureate, 2002 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis *1st prize, 2003 Naumburg International Violin Competition,

In 2017, Huang was named a recipient of the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist's Award.Concertmaster Frank Huang Receives Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award
New York Philharmonic, 15 Feb 2017. Retrieved 2017-02-20.

Reviews and commentary

*"Huang made everything he played seem easy. . . . In the end, what impressed most was Huang’s total grasp of each musical idiom he addressed and his ability to communicate such a variety of styles with force and immediacy. A debut recital of this quality used to be an automatic passport to a major career." —"Sweet Sounds" by Peter J. Davis in '' New York'' magazine, 2 February 2004 *"One had a right to expect technical competence. . . . But Huang had much more than that on offer. He is a sensational musician. . . . a musician of elegance and impeccable taste. . . . There were simply no flaws." —"Fine Fiddling" by Heuwell Tircuit at SFCV.org (San Francisco Classical Voice), 1 December 2003 *" nimportant artist." —''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

Discography

''Violin Recital''. With Dina Vainstein, piano. "Fantasies" by

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Ernst Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

, Schoenberg, and

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...

. Naxos Records 8.557121 (recorded 2002; released 2003).

References

Sources

Cleveland Institute of Music ''Notes'' March/April/May 2004
*Huang's biography a

*Huang's biography a
Irving M. Klein International String Competition website
*"Local violinist honored" by Charles Ward. ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'', 27 June 2003. *"Youth Symphony offers peek at musical future" by Betty Ewing. ''Houston Chronicle'', 24 May 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Frank American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists Concertmasters Cleveland Institute of Music alumni Classical musicians from Texas Musicians from Beijing People from Houston Juilliard School alumni Chinese emigrants to the United States 1978 births Living people American musicians of Chinese descent Concertmasters of the New York Philharmonic 21st-century classical violinists