Jia Cao serves as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since joining the orchestra in 2019. Prior to her appointment in Hartford, she was Principal Cellist of the
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, where she was also a member of the Dakota String Quartet. As a soloist, Ms. Cao has appeared with orchestras including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Ms. Cao co-founded the Chimeng String Quartet, with whom she won the silver medal at the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The quartet was invited to the Aspen Music Festival’s Advanced Quartet Studies program and has performed across the United States, Asia, and Europe, including a featured appearance at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.
Her festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bard Music
Festival, and Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society. She has also performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall,
the Banff Master Class Program and Morningside Music Bridge in Canada, the Incontri in Terra di Siena
Festival in Italy, and the Grafenegg Wolkenturm in Austria.
Throughout her career, Ms. Cao has collaborated with ensembles and artists including members of the
Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Tokyo String Quartets. She has worked with Ida Kavafian, Ani
Kavafian, Peter Frankl, and Claude Frank.
Born in Shanghai into a musical family, Ms. Cao began her cello studies at the age of four under the
guidance of her grandmother, Yishan Qian, a pupil of Pablo Casals. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a
Bachelor of Arts from Bard College Conservatory of Music, where her teachers included Peter Wiley and
Sophie Shao, and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, under the
tutelage of Aldo Parisot.
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, where she was also a member of the Dakota String Quartet. As a soloist, Ms. Cao has appeared with orchestras including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Ms. Cao co-founded the Chimeng String Quartet, with whom she won the silver medal at the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The quartet was invited to the Aspen Music Festival’s Advanced Quartet Studies program and has performed across the United States, Asia, and Europe, including a featured appearance at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.
Her festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bard Music
Festival, and Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society. She has also performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall,
the Banff Master Class Program and Morningside Music Bridge in Canada, the Incontri in Terra di Siena
Festival in Italy, and the Grafenegg Wolkenturm in Austria.
Throughout her career, Ms. Cao has collaborated with ensembles and artists including members of the
Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Tokyo String Quartets. She has worked with Ida Kavafian, Ani
Kavafian, Peter Frankl, and Claude Frank.
Born in Shanghai into a musical family, Ms. Cao began her cello studies at the age of four under the
guidance of her grandmother, Yishan Qian, a pupil of Pablo Casals. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a
Bachelor of Arts from Bard College Conservatory of Music, where her teachers included Peter Wiley and
Sophie Shao, and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, under the
tutelage of Aldo Parisot.