Wilson Hsu, viola
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Meet Wilson
Wilson performed as a member of the PALS Children’s Chorus (now VOICES Boston) on Show 221 in October 2010, and as a member of the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on Show 313 in October 2015. Wilson also performed in From the Top’s Feel the Light music video in April 2015 and From the Top’s Express Yourself music video in November 2016. Wilson was a member of the Center for the Development of Arts Leaders (CDAL) and a recipient of the 2020-2021 Alumni Leadership Grant.
Wilson Hsu started playing violin at the age of three. He studied violin with Andrew Kohji Taylor and viola with Daniel Getz of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In high school, Wilson was the principal violist for the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO). Wilson is currently a student pursuing his Bachelor of Business Administration at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, concentrating in Strategy & Management Consulting and Information Systems and Operations Management.
In 2018, Wilson toured with the world-renowned National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) to Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, and Daejon under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and piano soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Founded by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, the prestigious orchestra selects the most talented young instrumentalists from around the country each year to participate in an intensive month of world-class music-making. That same year, Wilson was awarded the Eugene Lehner Chamber Music Award by the New England Conservatory for excellence in chamber music.
In 2018, Wilson performed on the National Basketball Association’s “Players Only” show, and in 2017, he performed in a Nike commercial with Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, and Rob Gronkowski. In 2016, Wilson performed with the National Association for Music Education’s All-National Honor Symphony Orchestra in Grapevine, Texas. Wilson has held concertmaster and principal positions in numerous symphony orchestras and has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including the Roman Totenberg String Competition in 2014 and the Brookline Concerto Competition in 2012. In 2013 and 2014, Wilson received a gold medal for the MMEA Eastern District Solo and Ensemble Festival and in 2013, he performed Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall, and Tanglewood.
Wilson is the president and founder of Continuo, a music outreach organization that offers young musicians the opportunities to share their music with new audiences and explore the intersection of classical music and community leadership. In 2017, Wilson founded the organization in Boston and expanded it to Atlanta in 2019.
2015 bio:
WILSON HSU started playing violin at the age of three and a half. Last summer, he picked up the viola. Currently, he is a student at Brookline High School, studies violin and viola with Andrew Kohji Taylor, and plays in the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO) at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School which recently toured in in Iceland. Wilson was the first prize winner of the 2012 Brookline Concerto Competition. He received a gold medal for the MMEA Eastern District Solo and Ensemble Festival in 2013 and 2014, and was the second place winner of the 2014 Roman Totenberg String Competition. He has also performed Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall, and Tanglewood in 2013.
In addition to playing viola, Wilson also loves to sing and play the guitar. Wilson has also performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tosca with the Boston Lyric Opera. In 2010, he was part of the PALS Children’s Chorus/Voices Boston with which he performed on From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley Show 221.
When he’s not playing music, Wilson plays basketball on his high school team, and enjoys learning new things.
More on Wilson
- The incredible From the Top band covers Jennifer Lopez’s “Feel the Light” from the Dreamworks movie Home. Shot on location at Fruitlands …
