Cong Wu

Cong Wu joined the New York Philharmonic as Assistant Principal Viola, The Norma and Lloyd  Chazen Chair, in September 2018. Winner of the Third Prize and the Chamber Music Prize in the  Fourteenth Primrose International Viola Competition, and the Special Prize in the Twelfth Tertis International Viola Competition, he has performed throughout North America and Asia,  including solo appearances with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Macau Youth Orchestra,  and New York Classical Players. 

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Wu has collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, David Finckel, Itzhak Perlman, Peter Wiley, Pinchas Zukerman, the American String Quartet, and many  Philharmonic musicians. He has performed at various festivals, including the Marlboro Music  Festival, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Encounters,  Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Perlman Music Program, Lake  Champlain Chamber Music Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany. He  also regularly appears with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, East Coast Chamber  Orchestra, and New York Classical Players. 

Passionate about teaching, Mr. Wu served as a guest faculty member of the National Arts Centre  Summer Music Institute in Canada and as teaching artist at the Music@Menlo Winter Residency.  In addition, he has been invited to give masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music, the  Mead Witter School of Music (University of Wisconsin-Madison), China Conservatory of Music,  Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Renmin University of China.  

Born in Jinan, China, Cong Wu (Cong pronounces as Ts’ong) moved to New York in 2010 after  graduating from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. He holds a Master’s degree from  The Juilliard School and a Doctoral degree from the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers  include Wing Ho, Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, Patinka Kopec, and Pinchas Zukerman.