Hai-Ye Ni joins The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal cello at the beginning of the 2006-07 season after having served as associate principal cello of the New York Philharmonic since 1999.  Ms. Ni first came into prominence after her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991.  This performance came as a result of her winning first prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition.  She was the youngest recipient ever of that award.  She has since won first prize in the 1996 International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland, and became a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2001. 

Hai-Ye Ni made her debut with the Chicago Symphony in 1997 under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach at the Ravinia Festival.  At Yo-Yo Ma’s recommendation, she made a 14-city United States tour to introduce Bright Sheng’s cello concerto Two Poems.  During her tenure at the New York Philharmonic, Ms. Ni collaborated with Bobby McFerrin in the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos, and made her solo debut in 2003.  Her many solo engagements include the San Francisco Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Nationale de France, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Shanghai Symphony, the China National Orchestra, and the Odense (Denmark) Symphony.

In 2004 Ms. Ni performed a solo recital of works by contemporary female composers Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Chen Yi in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.  Ms. Ni has given recitals at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institute, the Krannert Center, and the Wallace Collection in London. She has performed with renowned artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Leonidas Kavakos, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell, and members of the Emerson String Quartet.  She also collaborated with Lynn Harrell and Christian Tetzlaff at the 92nd Street Y. 

Ms. Ni has been a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  She has performed at the Spoleto Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, and the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades. 

Her performances have been broadcast throughout the United States on National Public Radio, and she was featured on the ABC Television show 20/20.  She was also the cover story of the May/June 1997 issue of Strings magazine and is featured in the book Twenty-First Century Cellists.  She has also been featured in Strad, Le Monde, and Audiophile magazines.  Her solo CD on Naxos was chosen CD of the week by Classic FM London.
Born in Shanghai, China, in 1972, Hai-Ye Ni began her cello studies with her mother and later studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.  Ms. Ni continued her musical education with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School of Music, and William Pleeth in London.