Taiwanese-Canadian violinist Joseph Tsao is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University under the tutelage of Professor Andrew Wan, concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
A recipient of the prestigious Ethel Jamieson Ivey Scholarship, Joseph is the winner of the 20th edition of the Peter Mendell Award and received second place in the McGill Golden Violin Award. He recently served as Concertmaster of the McGill Symphony Orchestra in a performance at Maison Symphonique and was a finalist in the McGill Concerto Competition and Chamber Music Competition.
Joseph has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Encore Chamber Music Festival, and Orford Music, where he has had numerous opportunities to work with distinguished artists such as Jinjoo Cho, Paul Kantor, and Kathleen Winkler.
Eason Hu, thirteen, began his piano studies at age six with Coral Solomon-Berkovsky before continuing with Dr. Michael Berkovsky at age nine. At ten, he was accepted into The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at The Royal Conservatory.
Eason has earned numerous honors, including First Place for Piano Concerto at the OMFA Provincial Finals (2023, 2024), the Chopin Trophy at the Chinese Cultural Centre (CCC) Toronto International Music Festival (2022), and first prizes at the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, North York Music Festival, and Unionville Music Festival. He is a finalist in the junior division of the 6th Canadian Chopin Piano Competition (2025). He has also performed Chopin's Piano Concerto in E minor with the Myriade Quartet at the Unionville Music Festival.
A dedicated violinist as well, Eason won second place at the Canadian Music Competition in both 2022 and 2023, along with the Grand Prize for strings at CCC. In 2024, he began studying with Marie Bérard and Jonathan Crow at the Taylor Academy and joined the Toronto Youth Symphony Orchestra for the 2024/25 season.
When he's not at the piano or violin, Eason enjoys reading, watching movies, and playing soccer and badminton.
