CONCERTO CELEBRATION: Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev

Derek Powell

Derek Powell joined the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in 2020, appointed by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda. Each summer since 2018, Powell has performed in the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Jackson, Wyoming and has previously performed in the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in Verbier, Switzerland.

Powell is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musicians. He coaches and leads masterclasses with students from around the country for both the NSO’s Youth Fellowship program and the highly selective orchestral training program, Summer Music Institute. As a member of the Last Stand String Quartet, Powell co-created and performed “Math x Music,” a concert-length performance for grade school–age audiences and their families that explores the intersection of math and music. It premiered in the Kennedy Center’s Family Theatre in 2025.

As a versatile and sought-after musician, Powell frequently collaborates with esteemed chamber ensembles including the 21st Century Consort, National Chamber Players, Inscape, and Sound Impact, a pioneering music collective harnessing music’s transformative power to drive positive social change. Powell’s work with Sound Impact includes multiple transformative residencies with incarcerated youth combining music and youth driven artistic self-expression culminating in emotional collaborative performances.

Prior to joining the NSO, Powell served his country with distinction as a Staff Sergeant violinist in the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” where he performed at high-profile events, including White House state visits and congressional functions. Before his military service, Powell won a coveted position as a fellow in the New World Symphony, the nation’s most prestigious orchestral training program, under the guidance of visionary music director and founder Michael Tilson-Thomas.

Powell earned a Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he was awarded the coveted Distinguished Fellowship in Violin. He also attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in both neurobiology and music. Powell’s primary pedagogues include Kathleen Winkler, David Perry, Felicia Moye, and Eugene Purdue.

Efi Hackmey

Praised for his highly personal interpretations and “feather-light pianism” (Washington Classical Review), Efi Hackmey is recognized for his lyricism and beauty of tone. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Chiarina Chamber Players he performs regularly on Chiarina’s concert series, which has won critical acclaim for its artistry and innovative programming, called “some of the most compelling chamber programs in town” by the Washington Post. Efi has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, the Kennedy Center and Bargemusic, and in the Friends of Mozart series in NYC. In his native Israel he performed as soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Jerusalem Music Center. Efi is often featured on WETA Classical’s Front Row Washington.

A passionate chamber musician, Efi has collaborated with the Attacca Quartet, Imani Winds, clarinetists Ricardo Morales and Charles Neidich, baritone Randall Scarlata, cellist Marcy Rosen and violinists Catherine Cho, Todd Phillips and Nurit Bar-Josef, among others.

Efi’s recordings include the 2025 release of The Best Cuisine: Music of Carlos Simon on the Azica label, and the 2013 album Polish Violin Music on the Naxos label, among others.

Efi has served on the piano faculty at DePauw University, and he also taught at the Indiana University system. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and degrees in piano and conducting from Tel Aviv University. He studied with Menahem Pressler, Pnina Salzman and Dina Turgeman, and has had additional coaching with Lazar Berman, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Janos Starker and Jaime Laredo.

Eugena Chang

Eugena Chang joined the cello section of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2016 under the Music Director of Christoph Eschenbach. She was previously in the Minnesota Orchestra from 2007-2016. She was only 20 years old when she started, being the youngest in the orchestra. She also acted Associate Principal in the Minnesota Orchestra from 2012-2013 and 2015-2016.

Chang was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 14. She studied with Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, and William Stokking. While she was at Curtis she participated in numerous chamber music, orchestra and solo performances. She attended Itzhak Perlman's summer music program from 2002 to 2006, studying there with Ron Leonard and Paul Katz, and she has also studied with Eleonore Schoenfeld in California. Her last year at Curtis, she served as principal cello and also subbed in the Philadelphia Orchestra.

As the recipient of numerous awards, prizes, and scholarships, Chang has appeared across the nation as a recitalist and chamber musician, and several of her performances have been broadcast on radio and television. In 2009, she made her Paris recital debut at the Auditorium du Louvre.

Lin Ma

Lin Ma was appointed principal clarinetist of the National Symphony Orchestra by Gianandrea Noseda in 2018. Prior to joining the NSO, he has served as assistant principal and Eb clarinetist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2015. He also played a one-year position as second clarinet in the Houston Symphony. Ma won the 2014 Ima Hogg International Competition and performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Later, he appeared as soloist at the Baytown Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-15 season opener. In addition, Ma has soloed with National Repertory Orchestra at the NRO music festival in 2013.

Ma earned his Master of Music degree at Rice University, under the tutelage of Richie Hawley, and he holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Richard Hawkins. Ma has also studied at the Idyllwild Arts Academy with Yehuda Gilad, and the Middle School attached to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with Yuanfu Huang.

Ma is a Buffet Crampon Performing Artist, and he plays on Vandoren reeds and mouthpieces.

Philip Kramp

Philip Kramp is a versatile performer and teacher whose playing has been heard worldwide. Praised by the New York Times for his “impressive” performances, he has participated in chamber music festivals at Marlboro, Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Sarasota and many others.

Based in Washington, DC, Phil is a former violist in the Kansas City Symphony and a former faculty member of the University of Kansas. Currently, Phil is on the faculty at the University of Maryland and he plays regularly with the National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony. He has performed on tours worldwide with many orchestras and can be heard on recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, Metropolis Ensemble and The Roots. Phil can also be heard on many motion picture soundtracks and television shows.

In chamber music settings, Phil plays regularly with the Chiarina Chamber Players, as well as in concerts with members of the National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a past participant of the Marlboro Music Festival and has performed on several tours with Musicians from Marlboro. He is also a regular participant and the Twickenham Music Festival and the Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, Colo. Phil has also enjoyed collaborating with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and has performed alongside many of the world’s greatest artists, such as Richard Goode, Peter Wiley, Michael Tree, Arnold Steinhardt, Marcy Rosen, Miriam Fried and many others.

In competitions, Phil has won prizes in the Irving Klein String Competition, Chicago Viola Society Competition, NEC Concerto Competition and has participated in the Stulberg Competition and the HAMS Viola Competition. Phil received his formal training at the Curtis Institute and the New England Conservatory. His primary mentors include Michael Tree, Roberto Diaz, Kim Kashkashian, Roger Tapping, Joe DePasquale, Peter Wiley and Steven Tenenbom.

Richard Barber

National Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal Bassist Richard Barber was born into a musical family, beginning piano studies at age seven and double bass at age nine. His decision to pursue music (and not science) as a career was made at age 18. That decision took him to Baltimore, where he studied with former National Symphony Orchestra Principal Bassist Harold Robinson, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in three years from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Winning his first audition two weeks after graduation, Barber moved to Arizona to join the Phoenix Symphony. After three seasons in Phoenix and two summers touring Europe with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, he joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 1995 as a section bassist and was promoted to assistant principal in 1996. Since then he has been particularly active in the orchestra's chamber music and education programs. He also appears regularly with The 21st Century Consort, the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. He plays a double bass made ca. 1620 in Italy by the Brescian master Giovanni Paolo Maggini.

Wanzhen Li

Violinist Wanzhen Li was appointed to the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. by Christoph Eschenbach in September of 2015. The Boston Globe describes her playing: "Li established a sense of nostalgia... that provided a framework for the musical journey. Her tone seemed to cry. It was great playing; fun to hear." As a soloist, Ms. Li appeared with the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Xi'an Symphony Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic, Guilford Symphony, Grosse Point Symphony, and Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra.

Ms. Li has performed frequently with violinist Itzhak Perlman, accompanying him to Israel, Florida, and Vermont for residencies with the Perlman Music Program. She has also performed solo recitals as part of the Perlman Music Program's Alumni recital series at the Clark Arts Center.

An active chamber musician, Ms. Li has been invited to prestigious festivals including Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, The Perlman Chamber Music Program, and "Spannungen: Musik im Krafwerk Heimbach" in Germany. She has shared the stage with artists including Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, Peter Frankl, Laurence Lesser, Alban Gerhardt, Paul Katz, members of the Juilliard String Quartet, and musicians from the New York Philharmonic. Her solo and chamber performances have been broadcast on German radio “Deutschlandfunk”, IPRInterlochen public radio, and released on the Avi-Music record label.

Prior to joining the NSO, Ms. Li performed frequently with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the New York Chamber Soloists, and the Grammy Award-nominated ensemble A Far Cry. She has also led the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, and New England Conservatory Philharmonia as concertmaster.

Ms. Li maintains a private teaching studio and is a chamber music coach and teacher for the NSO’s Summer Music Institute and Fellowship Programs throughout the year. In addition, she has served on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Wu Han, China.