Aaron Ma, 16, is currently a junior at the Harker School. He began his musical journey at the age of three studying piano with his mother, pianist Hang Li, and started violin at age five with Zhao Wei. From 2019 to 2022, he studied piano with William Wellborn at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Pre-College Division. Aaron currently studies violin with Zhao Wei at SFCM, receives mentorship from Ian Swensen, and is coached by David Chernyavsky of the San Francisco Symphony. He has been a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2022, and now serves as its concertmaster.
Ma has earned top prizes in numerous competitions. Most notably, he was the winner of the 2025 San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, making his solo debut at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in November 2025. He is also the First Prize winner of the Central Oregon Symphony Young Artist Competition, and will appear as soloist with the orchestra in Bend, Oregon in February 2026. In addition, he won First Prize at the 2023 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Annual Competition, among many others.
Aaron has participated in masterclasses with distinguished violinists including Arnaud Sussman, Simon James, and Alexander Barantschik. His chamber music training has included coaching by the Alexander String Quartet, Telegraph Quartet, Calidore String Quartet, Ying Quartet, and Trio Karenine. He was a member of Young Chamber Musicians for the 2024–2025 season as the violinist of the Mariposa Trio.
In the summer of 2025, Ma was invited to the Young Artist Institute of Chamber Music Northwest and toured East Asia with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, performing alongside Ray Chen, Clara-Jumi Kang, and under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda. During the summer of 2024, he studied with Gerardo Ribeiro at the Meadowmount School of Music. In the summer of 2023, he participated in Music@Menlo and the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where he studied with Ayano Ninomiya of the New England Conservatory.
F. Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
