Cara Xu

Biography

Cara Xu, at 23 years old, is an orchestral conductor and pianist. She has worked at the Metropolitan Opera, Dresden Semperoper, and Komische Oper Berlin, with notable achievements including the include wining a scholarship from Lincoln Center’s Young Artists Program, Gold Prize in Conducting at the Saint-Saëns International Music Competition 2023 and being selected as a soloist with Royal Concertgebouw Kamerorkest. She has collaborated with ensembles such as the Prague Philharmonia and Czech Chamber Philharmonic, and has made her Berlin Philharmonie Hall debut with the Berliner Symphoniker in 2025.

Cara Xu frequently appears at major music festivals like Aspen Music Festival, Allegra Festival, Verbier Festival, and has performed at famous concert venues internationally including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie, Arvo Part Centre, among others. She has been selected to conduct in the masterclasses with Johannes Schlaefli, Jorma Panula, Martin Sieghart, and Uroš Lajovic, working with international orchestras including Moravian Philharmonic, Plovdiv State Opera, Stara Zagora State Opera, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Juilliard Lab Orchestra, Columbia University Orchestra, etc. Committed to promoting contemporary music, she is a guest conductor with Brooklyn Composers and regularly programs works for young composers’ associations in the United States.

Cara Xu is a graduate of the Columbia University-Juilliard School Joint Program. She began piano studies at age six and, due to exceptional hearing ability, was admitted at age 11 to the Institute for the Young and Highly Gifted at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover. She was later accepted to and attended the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Torino through its program for gifted young musicians.

2024/25 Season

Photo Credit: Fatima Fekete