The Program

Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata in D Major, Op. 58
Britten: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 65
Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119
De Falla: Populaire Espagnole 

The Artists

Hai-Ye Ni is the principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Born in Shanghai, China in 1972, she began cello studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and, after moving to the U.S., studied with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School of Music and William Pleeth in London.  Ms. Ni first came into prominence via her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991, a performance that came as a result of Ms. Ni capturing first prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition the preceding year. She is also the first prize winner of the International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland and a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.  Hai-Ye Ni has soloed with many orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, National Orchestra de Paris, the Finnish Radio Symphony, and the Shanghai Symphony.  She made her debut with the Chicago Symphony in 1997 under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach.  That same year, she performed a 14-city U.S. tour of a new concerto by Bright Sheng, "Two Poems", for cello and Chinese traditional instruments.  She has also collaborated with renowned artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Leonidas Kavakos, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrel, Christian Tetzlaff, and members of the Emerson Quartet.  From 1999 to 2006, Ms. Ni was the associate principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic.  She made her Philadelphia Orchestra solo debut in January 2010.  For more information on Hai-Ye Ni visit www.haiyeni.com.

Called "a pianist's pianist" by The New Yorker, Cecile Licad's artistry is a blend of daring musical instinct and superb training.  A native of the Philippines, she began her piano studies at the age of three with her mother and honed her talents at the Curtis Institute of Music with Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski.  As a highly regarded chamber musician, she has performed regularly with ensembles such as the New York Chamber Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Guarneri Quartet, Takacs Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Musicians from Marlboro.  She appears in a solo recital with PCMS on February 4, 2011 at the Philosophical Society.  For more information on Cecile Licad visit www.cecilelicad.com.