DIYANG MEI, VIOLA

It was thanks to his grandfather’s love of music that Diyang Mei started playing the violin when he was five. At the age of ten, he switched to the viola at the suggestion of Shaowu Wang, with whom he studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and immediately fell in love with the instrument’s dark and mysterious sound. It was also at this time that he saw a television documentary about Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. From that moment on, he dreamed of becoming part of this orchestra. In 2014, the musician continued his training in Germany – first at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under Hariolf Schlichtig, and later under Nobuko Imai at the Kronberg Academy. In addition to several other competitions, the violist won first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in 2018. The following year, Diyang Mei was offered the position of principal violist with the Munich Philharmonic. In 2022 he joined the Berliner Philharmoniker in the same position.

Diyang Mei also performs as a soloist with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, among others. His chamber music partners include András Schiff, Ana Chumachenco, Sabine Meyer and Christoph Prégardien. The musician’s favourite pastimes include cooking, reading, cycling and watching films.

His instrument by Antonio Mariani from 1646 is made available to him from a private collection.