Hai-Ye Ni joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal cello at the beginning of the 2006–07 season after having served as associate principal cello of the New York Philharmonic since 1999. She first came into prominence after her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991, a result of her winning First Prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition. Other awards include First Prize in the 1996 International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland, Second Prize in the 1997 Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and a 2001 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
In the summer of 2025, Ms. Ni performed at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. She also performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. She made her solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2010 in Saint-Saëns First Concerto. She was also featured in Tan Dun’s The Map, Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra; Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1; Brahms’s “Double” Concerto; and Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto.
Among the ensembles with which Ms. Ni has appeared as soloist are the Chicago, San Francisco, Vancouver, Shanghai, Singapore, and Finnish Radio symphonies; the New York, Hong Kong, and China philharmonics; the Orchestre National de Paris; and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Her recital credits include the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Wallace Collection in London. She has performed at festivals such as Ravinia, Marlboro, Sarasota, La Jolla SummerFest, Chamber Music Dolomiti (Italy), Kuhmo (Finland), Spoleto (Italy), Aspen, and Pacific Music.
Ms. Ni’s recent and upcoming performances include The Lonely Camel Calf, a new cello concerto by Yu Mengshi, at Bard College and Jazz of Lincoln Center and a trio concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Highlights of past performances include an all-Baroque concertos program with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra as soloist and conductor. Ms. Ni has been featured in Strad magazine, Strings magazine, and on NPR. Her 1998 debut solo CD on the Naxos label was named CD of the week by Classic FM London, and her CD Spirit of Chimes (Delos) featured music by Zhou Long.
A respected musician, Ms. Ni served on the jury of Finland’s V International Paulo Cello Competition in 2013 and has given master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the Shanghai Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore.
Born in Shanghai, China, Ms. Ni began cello studies with her mother and at the Shanghai Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, and William Pleeth in London.