About

Violist/Violinist Serena Hsu is an avid chamber musician and pedagogue currently based in Manhattan, NY. She has studied at Yale University, The Juilliard School, The Cleveland Institute of Music, the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), and the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England. Her main mentors include Samuel Rhodes, Ettore Causa, Hsin-Yun Huang, Misha Amory, Lars Anders Tomter, Jean Sulem, Lynne Ramsey, and Jeffrey Irvine. She is a prizewinner of various competitions, including the New York Laureate International Music Competition, YoungArts, the Ohio Viola Society Competition, Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, New Albany Symphony Concerto Competition, NY Laureate International Competition, and the OSTA Chamber Music Competition. Additionally, she has competed at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, was a finalist at the American Viola Society Competition, and semi-finalist of the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition in England. Her musical achievements were recognized by institutions, where she received the Irene Land and Paul Doktor Scholarship in Viola from The Juilliard School, and the Stephen and Denise Adams Fellowship at Yale University.

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She has performed at venues both in the United States and abroad, including Severance Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wiener Konzerthaus, Château de Fontainebleau, Alice Tully Hall, Southern Theatre, among others. She has appeared on Cleveland’s WRUW, North Carolina’s WDAV, and NPR’s “From the Top.” She has performed in master classes for Roberto Díaz, Barbara Westphal, Bruno Pasquier, François Salque, Quatuor Ébène, Lars Anders Tomter, among others.

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An avid chamber musician, Serena has participated in the Intensive Quartet Seminar at CIM, and has attended the McGill International String Quartet Academy, studying with the Alban Berg and Borodin Quartet. As a member of The Belka Quartet, she served as the CIM Apprentice Quartet, holding a Young Artist Residency with the Cleveland Chamber Music Society for the 2017-18 season. Serena has also served as Principal Violist of the CIM Orchestra and was featured on a Chamber Music Series Faculty Concert. She has attended various fellowship and intensive programs, including Thy Chamber Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music, Fontainebleau School, the Summer Music Institute Young Artists Program, Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Bowdoin International Music Festival. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Samuel Rhodes. 

As a dedicated violin, viola, and chamber music pedagogue, Serena Hsu was a Teaching Assistant for Viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music, a Chamber Music Mentor for the SQS Program at The Juilliard School, a Teaching Artist for the Music in Schools Initiative at Yale University, and currently serves as Viola and Violin Faculty at the Morse Summer Music Academy. She has been actively teaching private lessons for violin and viola since 2019 and chamber music since 2018. Serena currently has a teaching studio of 27 violists and violinists from all around the world, offering both in-person and online lessons. As a teacher, it is Serena’s mission to broaden the range of pedagogical methods for her students and emphasize how the role of collaboration in chamber music provides lifelong skills applicable to everyday life. 

Besides performing and teaching, Serena loves to read, cook, and spend time with her cat Mocha.