Jean huang, concertmaster

Described as “a consummate artist,” Dr. Jean Huang has concertized throughout the United States and Taiwan. Praised for her poised and expressive playing, Jean enjoys playing both standard repertoire and new music: Huang is especially passionate about performing underplayed pieces; as a violinist living in the 21st century, she enjoys the process of looking for new color and extending the short history and limited geography of the violin repertoire. Huang believes music can provoke the wildest imagination, and she often looks for a three-way connection between the composer, the performer, and the audience while performing. Huang writes her own scholarly program notes for each concert, using her knowledge to enhance the musical experience.

Serving as the newly appointed concertmaster of the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra and the newest member of Phoenix Orchestra, Chu-Chun Jean Huang holds Bachelor's, Master's and Doctor in Musical Arts degrees (BM 12’, MM 14’, DMA 19’) in Violin Performance with honors from the New England Conservatory (NEC). A native of Taiwan, Jean has studied in the United States since age fifteen. She graduated with honors from Walnut Hill High School of the Arts, while also studying at the NEC Preparatory School from 2005 to 2008, where she worked with the late Marylou Speaker Churchill. In addition, she participated and toured in China with the NEC Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Zander. In 2014, Huang enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at NEC with a merit scholarship, studying with James Buswell, Jennifer Frautschi, and Peter Zazofsky. In fall 2016, she excelled and passed all her doctoral qualifying exams to become the youngest doctoral candidate in her class. Huang completed her Doctoral studies with the thesis topic “Performative Analysis and the Critical Edition of Francis Poulenc’s violin sonata”, in 2019.

Huang is passionate about teaching. Since 2006, she has served as a teaching assistant at the Walnut Hill Summer Music Festival held by the Chinese Performing Arts Foundation. She has also had the privilege to work as James Buswell’s teaching assistant at NEC, where she works with undergraduate violinists. Huang also teaches private violin lessons regularly, with students ranging from six years old to adults. Wishing to share her immense depth of scholarly knowledge, she also works as a teaching assistant in the music history and music theory departments at NEC. Starting from September 2017, she serves as the newest faculty at the New England Conservatory Continuing Education division, where she teaches violin lessons.