Ethan Chiao
About
Cello
Ethan Chiao is a 17-year-old cellist and has recently graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), continuing his studies in 2025 at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music Performance (BMus). He has studied previously with Josephine Vains and Edith Slazmann and taken masterclasses with Ramon Jaffe and Richard Narroway. As a chamber musician, Ethan has worked alongside members of the Kronos Quartet, Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as Sophie Rowell and Glen Riddle.
Ethan has participated and placed in multiple international competitions such as Valsesia Musica, receiving top prize in both the Solo and Chamber Music category, awarding him a recital at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. He also received top prize in the Boroondara Eisteddfod in the open-age and under 18 bracket as well as a finalist in the Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) Baroque Competition and the 2024 Preston Youth Concerto Competition. With the Aneres Piano Trio and Sturt Street Six, he has won numerous chamber music awards such as the Music Society of Victoria’s (MSV) Chamber Competition as well as finalist for the 2024 Strike-A-Chord held at the MRC.
In his time at VCASS, he has presented multiple recitals with 3MBS Radio as a soloist and with his piano trio, string quartet, and string sextet. In 2024, Ethan participated in the pilot program in collaboration with the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), performing Mendelssohn’s String Octet. Ethan also enjoys playing in larger ensembles, leading the section with the VCASS Orchestra and appearing with the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) in 2022.
In 2025, he will join the AYO with the Flagship Orchestra, touring around Europe and Australia. He currently performs on a 1930 German Cello.