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Students, Faculty + Alumni

Pianist Hilda Huang '19MM '20MMA receives Soros Fellowship

Hilda Huang

Pianist and current School of Music student Hilda Huang '19MM '20MMA has received the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. The Soros Fellowship is a merit-based scholarship for immigrants and children of immigrants who are pursuing graduate work in the United States. Thirty winners are selected from a pool of more than 1,800 applicants every year, and each winner is awarded up to $90,000 to help support their education. The Soros Fellowship program was founded in 1997 and over the years "has built a community of 655 immigrants and children of immigrants ... with heritage in 89 countries," according to the organization's website.

Huang was born in Fremont, California, to Chinese and Taiwanese parents and began playing piano at age 3. She received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Yale College before attending the Yale School of Music, where she is pursuing a master of music degree in piano performance, studying with faculty pianist and Deputy Dean, Melvin Chen. While she was an undergraduate at Yale College, Huang said, she recognized "the great potential of music to shape lives," which convinced her of its "profound utility and worth" and led her to her current focus. She will remain at YSM next year to pursue a master of musical arts degree. Huang earned international acclaim upon winning the 2014 Leipzig International Bach Competition while she was still an undergraduate at Yale College. She was the first American to earn the prize and the youngest winner in the competition's history.

"Winning the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship and being a student at the Yale School of Music are for me one and the same with what it means for me to be able to pursue a career in music," Huang said. "The financial and institutional—not to mention artistic and academic—support provided by these two institutions is the means by which I am able to do what I love every day; they are gifts I do not take lightly. Playing the piano is one of the strongest forces in my life. It has contributed to shaping how I think, how I feel, and what I value. I have experienced unmatched happiness and productivity during my two years at YSM, and I am utterly grateful to have another year at YSM for my MMA. I intend to make the most of it."

READ MORE ABOUT THE 2019 PAUL AND DAISY SOROS FELLOWS