Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wendy Kao. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Wendy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Teaching underrated students in the Detroit area.

In 2023, I started teaching violin and viola in Detroit through the Sphinx Organization’s Overture Program and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles. Both programs provide free tuition and instruments for Detroit students. I teach in both group class and individual lesson settings. Teaching group classes fosters growth in a supportive community and cultivates the artistic potential of young string players. Meanwhile, private lessons allow me to focus on students’ individual needs, especially their string technique. I am thrilled to have witnessed my students’ immense growth over the past few years. Some of my students were selected to participate in the competitive Sphinx Performance Academy, a summer intensive for young Black and Latino string musicians. Not only do my Detroit students perform regularly in Detroit’s Orchestra Hall and the local community, but they also performed in Kentucky for the American String Teacher Association National Conference in 2024 and just made their Carnegie Hall debut this past March in New York City.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I grew up in Taiwan, where I started my musical training at age five. I came to the US in 2013 to study for a master’s degree in Viola Performance at Temple University in Philadelphia. While there, I also worked as a graduate assistant at Temple Music Prep, a pre-collegiate training program for gifted young musicians that offers lessons, chamber music, and orchestra. Through this role, I found myself interested in teaching and decided I wanted to pursue it as a career. Besides teaching, I love to perform, especially playing chamber music. During my studies, I played chamber music a lot with friends, and I also participated in several summer music festivals, including the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine, the Taipei Music Academy & Festival in Taiwan, the Kent Blossom Music Festival in Ohio, the Round Top Music Festival in Texas, and the Montecito International Music Festival in California, among others.

I moved to Michigan in 2018 and now hold a doctorate from Michigan State University. During the pandemic in 2020, I lost most of my performance jobs. I spent the majority of my time during that period taking teacher training courses and workshops, such as Suzuki Teacher Trainings, Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshops, Mimi Zweig Summer Retreats, and the Karen Tuttle Coordination workshop. All of my student experiences in both performance and teaching have helped shape who I am today.

I would say my career now has a pretty good balance between performance and teaching. I am currently a section viola player in the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra and frequently perform as a substitute musician in other local Michigan orchestras, including the Dearborn Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Midland Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Saginaw Symphony, and West Michigan Symphony Orchestra. For my teaching, I lead violin group classes in Detroit during the school year, and I maintain a private studio of around 20 students from the Detroit, Troy, and Novi areas. I hold two student recitals per year to give my students performance opportunities and to showcase their hard work in public. During the summer, when I do not have orchestra performances or group classes, I play wedding gigs and teach at summer music camps. I also spend a large part of my summer traveling to Taiwan to visit my family.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love the flexibility of my work schedule. Because I work multiple jobs in different locations throughout the day, traffic can make things crazy sometimes. However, the good thing is that I have the freedom to create my own schedule and lifestyle. I am not a morning person, so I really enjoy having time for coffee on my couch in the morning. Also, my husband and I just had a baby last year. With a newborn constantly waking up during the night, it is so nice that I don’t have to wake up early for work.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During my doctoral studies, I initially felt that joining a professional orchestra and teaching in higher education should be my ultimate goals. As time went by, I realized that while securing those kinds of jobs is important, they should not be my only focus. As an international student about to graduate with a doctorate, I have only one year of Optional Practical Training (OPT) to work legally in the US after my student visa ends. If I want to continue working here afterward, obtaining an artist visa is one option.
I cannot guarantee that I will secure a full-time college or orchestra job within just one year. However, I truly enjoy my life in the US and appreciate the career opportunities available here. Consequently, I started looking for alternative paths that would also help me secure an artist visa in the future. The great thing about an artist visa is that it allows me to hold multiple jobs.
It turns out that I deeply enjoy working with children; seeing them grow over time is one of the happiest parts of my life. Therefore, I began looking for group class teaching opportunities. At the same time, I am auditioning for local orchestras because I do not want to give up the performance side of my career. I am happy with the current direction of my creative career, but I will continue to look for different opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huiyikao1019/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendy.kao.2025
• Other: Email: hueyyi791019@gmail.com

Image Credits

Detroit Free Press