The Weston Public Library Music Committee is delighted to welcome Weston cellist Leland P. Ko and his accompanist, pianist Adria Ye, performing in the Community Room at 3 p.m. on December 3rd . Please join us for a performance by two young musicians already distinguished not only by their technical artistry but also by their pure joy in creating music. 

A cellist of Chinese-Canadian descent who grew up in Weston, Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America’s east coast as well as internationally.  This November, Leland won the Grand Prize in the Montreal Symphony’s String Competition, where he performed Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto in E minor, Op. 25 with the full orchestra. Adria accompanied him in the competition’s semifinal round. He recently won first prizes at the 2023 inaugural Boston Concert Artist Society auditions and the 2023 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition, and was named a winner of the 2023 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank auditions. Leland graduated from Princeton University with a degree in German literature, went on to complete an M.M. at the Juilliard School, and is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the New England Conservatory under the guidance of Yeesun Kim and Donald Weilerstein. Violinist Itzhak Perlman has said of Leland that he “plays with the beauty of sound and subtlety that we don’t often encounter in a cellist of his age,” and that he is “a musician who willingly considers all aspects of music.” 

Chinese-American pianist Adria Ye has been driven from a young age by a hopeless fascination with music, old and new. Described by cellist David Finckel as having a “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct,” she made her orchestral debut at nine with the Oregon Sinfonietta and has performed as soloist and chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States. She has been featured in radio broadcasts of “Performance Today” with Fred Child and National Public Radio’s “From the Top.” Adria earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at Juilliard with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin, and currently studies with Wha-Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory. 

The concert is free and open to the public, and the Community Room is handicapped accessible. 

Covid precautions will be observed, and masks will be available at the door.