2026 OMI Faculty
Qianwen Shen
Founder / Artistic Director
Violinist Qianwen Shen has joined The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the 2019 Season. As an orchestra musician, Ms. Shen has been seen in performances with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Montclair Orchestra. Ms. Shen has served concertmaster, Principal Second, and other leadership positions for the New World Symphony, New England Conservatory Philharmonic Orchestra, New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, Mannes School of Music, and Tanglewood Music Center. She has appeared in ensemble and solo performances at Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall of Singapore, Hong Kong Art Center Concert Hall, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing China, Shanghai Music Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
As an active chamber musician, Ms. Shen has been invited to YellowBarn Music Festival in 2014 and 2015, and Perlman Music Program in 2015. She has performed with the musicians from Cleveland Quartet, Emerson Quartet, Julliard Quartet, Takacs Quartet, and Peabody Trio.
Born in Bengbu, China, She began playing the violin at age of four. Her principal teachers have included Lei Fang, Donald Weilerstein, and David Chan. Ms. Shen received her bachelor of music degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, master of music degree and graduate diploma from New England Conservatory, professional study diploma from Mannes School of Music. She is currently a violin faculty member at the Mannes Prep Pre-College Music Program.
Jiawei Yan
Administrative Director / Viola Faculty
Violist Jiawei Yan maintains an active career as an orchestral, chamber, and freelance musician. In addition to performing regularly as a guest violist at Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Yan held a section position in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, she has also served as principal violist of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Lake George Music Festival Chamber Orchestra and PRISMA Academy Orchestra, and guest principal of New Jersey Festival Orchestra. She has also been a member of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra. She has been invited to play with Orchestra of St. Luke, Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, Bravura Philharmonic, Montclair Orchestra, and Symphony in C. Jiawei has performed under the batons of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Gerard Schwarz, Fabio Luisi, Manfred Honeck, James Judd, John Nelson, Osmo Vänskä, Jeffery Kahane, and Carl St Clair. Venues of her performances include Alice Tully Hall and David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Bohemian National Hall and Richard B. Fisher Center Sosnoff Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Polish National Concert Hall, Konzerthaus in Berlin and Wiener Konzerthaus , Rudolfinum in Prague, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, China National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and Grand Opera House in Shanghai.
As a soloist and an active chamber music artist, Jiawei gave a solo viola premiere at National Sawdust, and viola recitals in Piano on Park, Fordham University Church and Percy Grainger Society series. She also performed with New Juilliard Ensemble, AXIOM and Juilliard ChamberFest. As an outreach initiator, Jiawei managed and performed the solo and chamber music concert series at Fordham University and of Manchester Music Festival in Vermont Winter Series. As a music instructor, Jiawei held adjunct faculty position in New York University, coaching sessions in Mannes School of Music Prep Division, and was the director of chamber music at Thurnauer School of Music in New Jersey.
Jiawei Yan is currently working on her Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Professor Li-Kuo Chang, with a minor study in Music Education and Arts Marketing. She earned a master's degree from The Juilliard School as a student of Paul Neubauer, bachelor's degree in philosophy from Bard College as well as in Viola Performance from Bard Conservatory of Music under instructions of Ira Weller and Michael Tree. In addition, Jiawei holds Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes School of Music of The New School and an Artist Diploma from New York University. Jiawei receives President Scholarship of The New School, Bard Conservatory Fellowship, A.H. Kuhn Memorial Scholarship and Lillian Fuchs Scholarship of Juilliard, Elaine and Stephen Stamas Scholarship of New York Philharmonic, etc. throughout her musical education.
In addition to her musical performance and education careers, Jiawei was a dedicated marketing consultant for three years in Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chinese audience outreach program, contributing many strategies and translating season brochures. The project brought more than 2000 new audiences from Chinese communities in New York area. In recent years, Jiawei has been dedicating her language skills in helping families as an certified Mandarin-English Interpreter with Hanna Interpreting Services in California. She is also actively participating in public school orchestra programs as a viola coach and clinician.
Qianru Elaine He
Executive Assistant / Violin Faculty
Born in Guangzhou, China, Qianru Elaine He has joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in its first violin section since 2024. She is also a doctoral candidate at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Sheryl Staples and Todd Phillips. She holds Bachelor's and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Catherine Cho and Lewis Kaplan.
Her recent awards include 1st Prize at the 2023 Naftzger Prize Audition, 2nd Prize at the 2023 Hellam Young Artists Competition where she also received the Stephen and Linda Paganini-Brite Award. She has received fellowships to spend her summers in Verbier Festival, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and Morningside Music Bridge. She was also a participant at the PMP Suncoast, DeLay-Starling Violin Symposium, and IMS Masterclass at Prussia Cove. To her passion for chamber music, Elaine has performed in United Nations Chamber Music Society concert series, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players’ concert series, and Orpheus Reflections which brings the healing power of music to people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
In her orchestral experience, Elaine has toured with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She served as Concertmaster at Verbier Festival Orchestra, MSM Symphony Orchestra, and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, as well as other principal positions and performed under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniele Gatti, and Vasily Petrenko.
Ole Akahoshi
Guest Artist: Cello Masterclass
Cellist Ole Akahoshi regularly performs for audiences around the world, appearing in solo recitals and chamber music concerts, and as a soloist with orchestras. His performances have been broadcast internationally on television and radio. Akahoshi is currently the leader and concertmaster of the Sejong Soloists chamber orchestra, with violinist Xiao-Dong Wang, with whom he performs extensively in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
At the Yale School of Music, Akahoshi is the director of the Yale Cellos, a Grammy-nominated ensemble, and teaches chamber music and undergraduate cello lessons. He has been a featured performer on the School of Music's Faculty Artist Series and at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival–Yale Summer School of Music. Beyond his work at Yale, Akahoshi has served on the faculty at festivals in Brazil, Canada, South Korea, and the United States, and gives numerous master classes around the world.
Originally from Germany, at age eleven Akahoshi was the youngest cellist to be accepted as a student of French cellist Pierre Fournier. His other mentors were Georg Donderer and Wolfgang Boettcher in Germany. He later received a bachelor of music degree from the Juilliard School, a master of music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot, and an artist diploma from Indiana University under the tutelage of Janos Starker. He was a teaching assistant to both Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker.
Akahoshi performs on a Matteo Goffriller cello (Venice, c.1707), ex-Lorne Monroe, which is on loan to him from Mr. Higgin Kim, Chairman of Byucksan Engineering Co. Ltd. through the Stradivari Society of Chicago and Sejong Soloists.
Kayoung An
Piano Faculty
“Passionate,” “expressive,” “bold,” and “sensitive: This is how critics described pianist Kayoung An’s performance with the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie in 2017. Her playing was praised by Korea Music Review: “Along with elegance, she has fire.” capturing the distinctive duality that defines her artistry.
A multi-award-winning pianist, An has performed widely as both soloist and chamber musician, appearing on some of the world’s major stages, including Carnegie Hall, SummerStage, Bruno Walter Auditorium, Seoul Arts Center, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Her performances have been broadcast on WFMT Chicago (98.7 MHz), KBS Classic FM, KBS-TV, and WBFY Belfast Radio (100.9 MHz), reaching audiences across the United States, Korea, and Europe.
Throughout her career, An has collaborated with a distinguished roster of conductors, among them Gábor Hontvári, Lawrence Golan, and Francis Fortier. She has been featured as a guest soloist at leading concert series and festivals, including the Korean-U.S. Friendship Cultural Festival, the Bar Harbor Music Festival, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, the Leschetizky Association, and the Arts on the Lake Recital Series.
Her recent album, Kayoung An and Friends Play Bernard Hoffer, showcases her commitment to contemporary music and collaborative artistry. Recorded in partnership with conductor David Gilbert, former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic and longtime music director of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, the album was released by Albany Records.
In addition to her performing career, An is deeply devoted to music education. She is a member of the Piano and Chamber Music Faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, where she has established herself as an inspiring and sought-after mentor. Her students have won top prizes in some of the most respected national and international competitions, including the San Francisco International Piano Competition, Seattle International Piano Competition, IPPA Conero International Piano Competition, National League of Performing Arts (NLPA), Mondavi Young Artists Competition, Vivo International Music Competition,and Camerata Artists International Competition, among many others.
Dr. An earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied under Marc Silverman and Solomon Mikowsky. Her earlier training includes degrees from the New England Conservatory, the Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has worked closely with world-renowned pedagogues and artists such as Sergei Babayan, Ory Shihor, Kathryn Brown, and Alexander Korsantia.
Sam Boutris
Clarinet Faculty
Clarinetist Sam Boutris leads a diverse career as concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is the recipient of the ‘Musica Solis ’ Grand Prize Award at the 2019 Chamber Music Northwest International Clarinet Competition. Boutris has since released his debut album Phases on the Musica Solis label and collaborated with the Rolston String Quartet, Attacca Quartet, and musicians at Chamber Music Northwest. He has presented recitals on the Crypt Sessions series in New York City, The Violin Channel, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, and performed live on WQXR (NYC), WFMT(Chicago), and WSMR (Sarasota).
Boutris has appeared as soloist with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as principal/guest clarinet with the Louisville Orchestra, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Committed to education and mentorship, Boutris maintains a full private studio, and his students have received several prizes at the International Clarinet Association’s student competitions and have gone on to attend many prestigious institutions. Boutris is a resident artist of Soundbox Ventures ’ Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program, performing and advocating for clarinet chamber music in contemporary classical repertoire. Boutris holds an undergraduate degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, a graduate degree from the Yale School of Music, and an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School.
Katherine Fong
Violin Faculty
Violinist Katherine Fong has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2000. A native of Amarillo, Texas, she began playing at age four. Katherine leads a multifaceted existence as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, entrepreneur, studio musician, and mother.
Katherine serves as Executive Director, personnel manager, and performing mentor with the Second Ending Ensemble, whose mission is to pair warhorse symphonic works with those borne just months or weeks prior to performance by up-and-coming composers. The ensemble also combines outstanding Juilliard and other NYC area conservatory students with members of the Metropolitan Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. She is also founder and spokesperson for Luxitune for which she has designed bejeweled fine tuners for string instruments. Katherine received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory and continued her studies at the Juilliard School, where she received her Master of Music degree. She is proud mommy to Zeke (age 13), Lila (age 10), and is married to violist Dov Scheindlin.
Leonard Fu
Guest Artist: Violin Masterclass
Leonard Fu has established a diverse and distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster, pedagogue, and composer. He has performed across Europe, North America, and Asia, appearing in renowned venues such as the Elbphilharmonie, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Het Concertgebouw, Alice Tully Hall, and Jordan Hall.
As a soloist, he has been featured with leading orchestras, including the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and Allentown Symphony, under conductors such as Andrew Manze, Alexander Shelley, Elias Grandy, and Diane Wittry. He has also served as guest concertmaster with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
A dedicated chamber musician, Fu recently joined the renowned Juilliard String Quartet as their second violinist and has already performed extensively across the US and Asia with tours in Europe and Canada following throughout the season. He has further collaborated with artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Kim Kashkashian, Janine Jansen, Jörg Widmann, Laurence Lesser, Jens Peter Maintz, Hsin-Yun Huang, Natasha Brofsky, and the Kuss Quartet. His artistic interests span historical performance, contemporary premieres, and cross-genre collaborations.
An accomplished composer, Fu frequently performs his own works and has been commissioned for solo and chamber pieces. In December 2025, the Juilliard String Quartet played the world premiere of his “Popular Dances” for string quartet at their NYC debut in the quartet’s new configuration at Alice Tully Hall.
He is a laureate of numerous international competitions, including the Postacchini, Lipizer, Joseph Joachim, TONALi, Ton & Erklärung, and Schadt competitions, and has been praised for his “superior awareness for sound and structure” by German music critic Harald Eggebrecht.
Fu’s early years in Germany were guided by studies with Lara Lev and Tanja Becker-Bender. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Donald Weilerstein, followed by his Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School, studying with Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. He has pursued further Professional Studies with Antje Weithaas at the Kronberg Academy.
After serving as a teaching assistant to Donald Weilerstein and Catherine Cho for several years, Fu accepted his faculty position at the Juilliard School in Fall 2025, where he teaches violin and chamber music for both the College and Pre-College Divisions.
He currently performs on a “Lorenzo Storioni, Cremona, 1781”, generously loaned from the instruments fund of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Jung-Hsuan (Rachel) Ko
Cello Faculty
Jung-Hsuan (Rachel) Ko, a native of Taiwan, joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2023. Prior to joining the orchestra, she served as Assistant Principal Cello of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Her performances have taken her to renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Symphony Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Suntory Hall in Japan, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She has toured with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in European cities under the baton of Maestro Ivan Fisher.
Ko is a top prize winner of the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria. She has appeared as a soloist with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra and the Newart Symphony Orchestra. As an enthusiast for chamber music, Ms. Ko frequently participates in ensemble projects collaborating with musicians from the New Asia Chamber Music Society, as well as performing with the Taiwan Connection Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Ko has served as co-principal cellist in many summer festivals, including the Verbier Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and her Graduate Diploma degree from the New England Conservatory. Her teachers include Marion Feldman, Alan Stepansky, Timothy Eddy, and Laurence Lesser.
In addition to her performance career, Ms. Ko shares her passion for music and the life of a professional musician on her YouTube channel, “CelloKoko,” offering audiences an inside look into artistry, creativity, and the world of music.
Mo Mo
Cello Faculty
Celebrated by the Weekly Music magazine for his “impeccably logical and also vivid, emotional playing”, Mo Mo has firmly established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation. In recent years, he has performed with esteemed orchestras such as China National Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the Macao Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Tan Dun, Lv Jia, Yang Yang and Liu Sha. Mo Mo’s performances have resonated across the United States, China, and Europe at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Jordan Hall in Boston, and the Fontainebleau Palace in Paris. He is a regular invitee to prestigious music festivals such as Tanglewood Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, Festival Croisements, Shanghai New Music Week, and Macao Arts Festival.
As a soloist, Mo Mo embraces a diverse repertoire and is passionate about promoting Chinese music culture. He has worked closely with leading Chinese composers such as Tan Dun, Chen Qigang, Zhao Jiping, Qin Wenchen, and Zhou Tian. His artistic ventures extend beyond classical realms, with notable collaborations with Ms. Han Hong, one of the most revered pop singers and music producers in China, on her debut cello composition “Chant for Life”, dedicated to those suffered during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.
An avid chamber music player, Mo Mo has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Mark Kaplan, Ilya Kaler, and Robert Diaz. He was invited to tour with artists from the Heifetz International Music Institute, performing across Rode Island and New York. In 2018, Mo Mo joined Beijing Contemporary Soloists, the first professional contemporary music ensemble in China, dedicated to promoting chamber works by both Chinese and international composers. Their debut album, Jade, released under Naxos in 2022, features chamber works by five distinguished Chinese composers.
Mo Mo began his cello studies with Professor Song Tao at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the age of 6, and later with the legendary Brazilian-American cellist Aldo Parisot at Yale School of Music. His accolades include top prizes at international competitions such as the 2016 Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China, and the 2017 Koussevitzky Young Artist Award in New York. He is also a recipient of the Aldo Parisot Prize from Yale University, the Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award from Tanglewood Music Center, and the Beneficent Society Scholarship from New England Conservatory. His other mentors include Mula Na, Laurence Lesser, and Philippe Muller.
Dov Scheindlin
Viola Faculty
Acclaimed by the New York Times as an "extraordinary violist" of "immense flair," Dov Scheindlin is a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and an associate member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He served as Artistic Director and Program Coordinator of Orpheus from 2013-2016. He has also been violist of the Arditti, Penderecki, and Chester String Quartets and served as acting violist of the Borromeo and Mendelssohn Quartets. Mr. Scheindlin’s chamber music career has brought him to 28 countries around the globe and won him the Siemens Prize in 1999. He has appeared as soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, the Paris Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Munich Philharmonic. Mr. Scheindlin has recorded the viola solos in Strauss’ Don Quixote with the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra on an acclaimed 2018 CD for the French label Aparté. He has also recorded extensively for EMI, Teldec, Auvidis, Col Legno, and Mode, and won the Gramophone Award in 2002 for the Arditti Quartet's recording of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's “Pulse Shadows.” As a member of the Arditti Quartet, he gave nearly 100 world premieres, among them new works by Benjamin Britten, Elliott Carter, György Kurtág, Thomas Adès, and Wolfgang Rihm. He has also been broadcast on NPR, BBC, CBC, and on German, French, Swiss, Austrian, Dutch, and Belgian national radio networks.
Dov Scheindlin was raised in New York City, where he studied with Samuel Rhodes and William Lincer at the Juilliard School. He has taught viola and chamber music at Harvard, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Tanglewood. He has regularly participated in summer festivals such as Salzburg, Luzern, and Tanglewood, and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center and the Met Chamber Ensembles. He is currently a member of Quartet 212 with his colleagues of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with whom he has recorded a CD of Clarinet Quintets with French clarinetist Pierre Génisson. Dov Scheindlin plays a viola made in 1928 by Gaetano Gadda.
Yinfei Wang
Piano Faculty
Yinfei Wang made his public debut at the age of seven in the Shanghai Concert Hall and has since performed extensively across China, Singapore, Spain, Australia, and the United States. He is a top prizewinner of numerous national and international piano competitions, including the Washington International, Gershwin, Five Towns, Jacob Flier, and Hartford Chopin competitions. As a soloist, Mr. Wang has appeared with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra under the batons of conductors such as Vladimir Feltsman and Philippe Entremont.
A passionate chamber musician, Mr. Wang has been featured in renowned festivals and concert series such as The Perlman Music Program, PianoSummer at New Paltz, Summer Concerts at NEC in Boston, Walnut Hill Music Festival, and Concerts on the Slope in New York. He has collaborated with distinguished artists including Thomas Hill, Nai-Yuan Hu, Hsin-Yun Huang, Nicholas Kitchen, Qianqian Li, Mo Mo, Kenneth Radnofsky, Qianwen Shen, Nathan Vickery, and Cong Wu. His performances are also featured on the Shanghai Conservatory of Music: Seventieth Anniversary Gala Album.
As a dedicated educator, Mr. Wang has worked with students of diverse ages, levels, and cultural backgrounds. His students have earned accolades in competitions such as the Bay State Piano Contest, Crescendo, Gershwin, Hartford Chopin, PianoTexas Concerto Competition, and the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition. He has served as an adjudicator for events including the Gershwin International Piano Competition, Irvine Music Competition, and Fou Tsong Concerto Competition. His students have gone on to study at prestigious institutions such as the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, SUNY Purchase, Northwestern University, Mannes School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the pre-college divisions of NEC, Juilliard and MSM. He currently serves on the piano faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School and is the Artistic Director at both Tutti Music and Arts (New York) and Lincoln Music School (Boston).
Mr. Wang holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and both his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. His principal teachers include Phillip Kawin, Yanxin Chen, Christopher Zhong, and Chongfang Zhang. He has also performed in masterclasses for renowned pianists such as Hung-Kuan Chen, Nikolai Demidenko, Vladimir Feltsman, Stephen Hough, Lang Lang, Robert Levin, Russell Sherman, and Fou Tsong.