Esther Yang began studying music at the age of five, first taking up the piano under the influence of her mother, a composer. She later developed a deep passion for the violin and, at the age of seven, decided to pursue it seriously. Esther has received recognition in numerous prestigious international competitions worldwide. She was a semifinalist at the Premio Paganini Competition in 2023 and at the Windsor Festival International String Competition in 2024. She also won Third Prize at the Ysaÿe International Music Competition. In addition, she was awarded First Prize at both the Adelphi Orchestra Young Artist Competition and the Mary Smart Concerto Competition, Second Prize at the New York International Music Competition, and special prizes at the Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition in Hungary and the Osaka International Music Competition in Japan. She was also selected as a laureate of the 2021 Isang Yun Competition in South Korea. During the 2023–2024 season, she appeared in laureates’ concerts with the Adelphi Orchestra as First Prize winner. She has also collaborated with the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gimpo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea.
As a soloist, she has performed in renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Salle Philharmonique de Liège, Palazzo Doria Tursi, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Ádám Jenő Music School of Ferencváros, Taipei NTCH Recital Hall, National Taichung Theater, Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall and Busan Cultural Center Theater.
Her passion for chamber music has led her to participate in the Villars Music Academy, Juilliard ChamberFest, Kneisel Hall, Summit Music Festival, the Spring Forward Festival at the New England Conservatory, Taipei Music Academy & Festival, the Korean Chamber Orchestra Summer Music Camp and the Aspen Music Festival as an orchestral fellow. Esther has received chamber music guidance from distinguished artists including Samuel Rhodes, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Joseph Lin, Natasha Brofsky, Daniel Phillips, Paul Neubauer, Merry Peckham, Carol Rodland, Darrett Adkins and Mai Motobuci. She performed with her string trio at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University as part of Chamber Musicians from Juilliard. She also took part in two Juilliard ChamberFest 2023 series and appeared in one of the Music by Juilliard Faculty programmes, performing Behzad Ranjbaran’s Six Capriccios for Violin Duo.
She attended the Kumho Arts Fund Seoul Arts Center Music Academy, where she studied with renowned professors including the late Nam-Yun Kim, Koichiro Harada and Lucie Robert.
Alongside her solo and chamber music activities, Esther has also appeared as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Juilliard Orchestra. She studied orchestral performance under the direction of Donald Runnicles, Simone Young, Speranza Scappucci, Manfred Honeck, JoAnn Falletta, Roderick Cox, Jeffrey Milarsky, David Robertson and Hugh Wolff. Esther has had the privilege of receiving invaluable guidance in masterclasses from many eminent musicians, including Gil Shaham, the late Aaron Rosand, Ilya Kaler, Joel Smirnoff, Frank Huang, the late Nam-Yun Kim, Koichiro Harada, Lucie Robert, Ronald Copes, Mimi Zweig, Young-Uck Kim, Ray Chen, the late Victor Danchenko, Chin Kim and Min Kym.
She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Soovin Kim and Paul Biss, and recently completed her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Joseph Lin.
Since September 2024, Esther Yang has been an Artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the direction of Augustin Dumay.
