Bio

Dr. Chia-Ying Hsu is the founder, conductor, and instructor of the Harper College Youth String Orchestra, the Chicago Tzu-Chi String Orchestra, and the Avian Formosa Trio. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays, teaches, and improvises on the violin, viola, and piano. An internationally recognized artist, Dr. Hsu won the Padova International Music Competition in Italy and holds first-place titles from several music competitions in Taiwan. Her extensive performance career includes a 2005 invitation from the Chicago Suzuki Organization to perform at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall. In 2007, she received the Exemplary Performance Award from the Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA). Her live performances have reached global audiences through broadcasts on Italian Web Radio TEM (Taukay Edizioni Musicali), Chicago's Fine Arts and Classical Radio Station WFMT 98.7, and Chicago Cable Channel 25.

In addition to her extensive work in classical music, Dr. Hsu is a dedicated specialist in contemporary music performances. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the viola and electroacoustic music. She has premiered numerous works for solo violin and viola alongside electronic music, utilizing a five-string electric violin. Her specialized expertise has inspired contemporary composers—including Christopher Adler (U.S.), Lars Carlsson (Sweden), and Tsai-Yun Huang (Taiwan)—to dedicate solo viola pieces to her.

As a collaborative musician, Dr. Hsu has performed with a diverse array of ensembles, including the Violent Femmes, Gene Coleman’s Noamnesia, MAVerick, and the Millennium Chamber Players. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree from the Freiburg Conservatory of Music in Germany, and a diploma from the University of Music & Arts in Graz, Austria. Previously, she taught at DePaul University and Saint Xavier University, and she currently serves on the faculty at Harper College. Since 2004, she has served as a judge for IMEA orchestra auditions and has served as a member of the music faculty at the OPUS Chamber Music Camp.

As a pedagogue, Dr. Hsu has cultivated a studio of highly accomplished musicians. Her students have achieved remarkable success, consistently winning first place in Chicago-based music competitions, including the Licata Memorial Contest, the Illinois Music Association Contest, and the Granquist Competition. Additionally, her students have excelled in international online competitions, such as the International BTHVN WIEN Competition (Vienna, Austria), the International Artists Competition (Vienna, Austria), the Global Musical Arts Concerto Competition (Southern California, USA), the Amadeus International Music Awards (Salzburg, Austria), the Royal Maas International Music Competition (Budapest, Hungary), the New York International Music Competition (New York, USA), the Virtuoso International Music Awards (London, UK), the International Youth Music Competitions (Atlanta, GA), and the London Young Musician Competition (London, UK). Many of her students have also been accepted as concertmasters for prestigious ensembles, including the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (Preparatory Strings and Debut Orchestra), the Schaumburg Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra at the University of Illinois, and the All-State and Honors Orchestra of the Illinois Music Education Association.

In 2024, Dr. Hsu founded the Avian Formosa Trio with her children, Vincent and Annabelle Lan, and has been conducting her summer music camp since then.