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

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist and teacher. Since 2015 he has been the

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

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

Ying Quartet The Ying Quartet is an American string quartet. The Ying siblings, from Winnetka, Illinois,Allan KozinnMusic in Review ''New York Times'' May 21, 1991R. M. Campbell," ''Seattle PI,'' Nov 10 2008 formed the quartet in 1988 while studying at the U ...

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, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, then served as the concertmaster of the Houston Symphony 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 (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

was critically acclaimed.

Early life and musical training

Frank Huang was born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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 List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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 Houston Symphony 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. The school was founded in 1920 by a group of supporters led by Martha Bell Sanders and Mary Hutchens Smith, with Ernest Bloch serving as its first dire ...

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

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree from CIM in 2002. Subsequently, he attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

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 Genoa Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra was founded in 1930 and is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown ...

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

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

), ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' ( ABC), and '' Performance Today'' (

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

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

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

's CMS II program.

Awards and distinctions

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

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

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy * 1st prize, Kingsville International Competition,

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

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

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

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

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

, USA * 1st prize, 2000 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Germany * 4th place laureate, 2002 International Violin Competition of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, USA * 1st prize, 2003 Naumburg International Violin Competition,

, New York, USA In 2017, Huang was named a recipient of the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

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 M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

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 period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, Ernst, 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 (194 ...

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

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, 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''. ...

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