Kenneth Ma, 18, is a Chinese American cellist and a second-year student at Northwestern University, where he is pursuing a dual degree in Cello Performance at the Bienen School of Music and Economics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He studies under the tutelage of Danish-American cellist and pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen. Previously, Kenneth studied with Amos Yang at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College and was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Kenneth has been active in chamber music through Young Chamber Musicians, where his quartet, the Moltrés String Quartet, won the Grand Prize in the ENKOR International Music Competition. The ensemble has been invited to perform at venues including Kohl Mansion, the Rossmoor Chamber Music Society, and the 2024 USIMC Fundraising Concert.
As a soloist, Kenneth has received top prizes in competitions including the United States Open Music Competition, American Protégé International Music Competition, Grand Maestro International Music Competition, International Great Composers Series, and ENKOR International Music Competition. He made his solo concerto debut performing Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Central Oregon Symphony as the first-prize winner of its Young Artist Concerto Competition. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, the Junior Bach Festival, and numerous community events.
Over the summers, Kenneth has attended the Montecito International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, where he served as principal cellist for Mahler's Symphony No. 6. He has worked with and performed in masterclasses for esteemed cellists including Ronald Leonard, Ko Iwasaki, Christopher Costanza, Thomas Landschoot, Wei Yu, Jonathan Swensen, Julian Schwarz, Norman Fischer, Robert DeMaine, and members of the Telegraph, Alexander, Ariel, and St. Lawrence String Quartets.
