Leland Ko + Adria Ye

Elegant Artistry

Artists
Leland Ko, cello
Adria Ye, piano

Prize-winning cellist Leland Ko and acclaimed pianist Adria Ye present a program of expressive and virtuosic music, ranging from works by Lili Boulanger, Nadia Boulanger, and Janáček to Kabalevsky and Brahms.

Program

Lili Boulanger, Nocturne (arr. cello and piano)
Leoš Janáček, Pohádka (Fairy Tale), JW 7/5
Dmitry Kabalevsky, Sonata for Cello and Piano in B-flat major, Op. 71
Nadia Boulanger, Three Pieces for Cello and Piano
Johannes Brahms, Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38

About the Artists

Cellist Leland Ko has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Boston, New York, Israel, Korea, Hong Kong, and across Europe. In March 2026, he was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He is also a first prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumberg International Cello Competition, and he received the Presidential Scholar Award at New England Conservatory for 2022–2024. Violinist Itzhak Perlman has praised his “beauty of sound and subtlety.” Mr. Ko holds degrees from Princeton University and the Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory. Before college, he studied with Ronald Lowry. He plays a cello by Giovanni Battista Rugeri, Cremona, c. 1710, on generous loan from Canimex, Inc.

Pianist Adria Ye cites a fascination with music among her earliest memories. She began study of the piano at age five and made her orchestral debut with the Oregon Sinfonietta at age nine. Emerson String Quartet cellist David Finckel has praised her “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct.” Ms. Ye has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States. She won the 2022 Music Academy of the West Solo Piano Competition, and she received the Paul Streit Special Prize at the 2022 Concours de Genève. She has been featured in public radio broadcasts of Performance Today and From the Top. Ms. Ye earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School and a graduate diploma at New England Conservatory.