Teaches

Graduate Studies, Harp

Pre-College, Harp

Born in Taiwan, Li-Ya Huang was Principal Harp of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra from 2011 to 2020, Guest Principal Harp of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and many other leading orchestras.

As a soloist, Huang performs regularly with the NCPA Orchestra, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Wan-Sheng Orchestra (Taiwan), the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Modern Music Ensemble, among others. Recent highlights of her performances include Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with the NCPA Orchestra, Handel’s Harp Concerto in Bb Major with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro for String Quartet, Flute, Clarinet and Harp at the opening concert of NCPA May festival, as well as other recitals and chamber concerts in Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and New York. She was invited as guest solo artist to the First and Second Taiwan International Harp Festival, the World Harp Congress, the Shanghai International Harp Festival, and the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy.

Huang’s multiple awards include the “Musical Talents Prize” presented by the Taipei Symphony, top prize of “Multi-Media New Music Competition” from the World Harp Congress in 2017, and the “Young Promising Artist” of the Taiwan Classical Music Association in 2010. She was the first prize winner of the Taiwan International Harp Competition.

Her first album - Harpy Lab - A Collection of Harp Compositions by Contemporary Taiwanese Composers -  was released in March 2018 under the music label “Feeling Good Music Co.” in Taiwan. Other significant recordings on which she appears as principal harpist include Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jaap Van Sweden (Naxos) in 2016, and Wagner/Maazel’s The Ring Without Words with the NCPA Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel (Sony) in 2013.

Huang received a DMA from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and a Master’s degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She frequently gives master classes and lecture concerts in music conservatories including the Central Conservatory of Music and the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, National Taiwan University of the Arts, and the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. She was invited as faculty at summer festivals and academies such as the Orchestra Kids, Forbidden City Harp Academy, and the Forbidden City Summer Harp Class.