Mann-Wen Lo

Professor of Practice, Violin

Violinist Dr. Mann-Wen Lo performs extensively throughout the world in some of the most prestigious venues as a soloist and chamber musician. Lo has been a recurring artist in performances at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Walt Disney Hall, among others. Featured on radio and TV broadcasts in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, and France, Lo has gained recognition at numerous competitions and awards. Most recently, her recording with the Mana Music Quartet featuring music of Queen Liliʻuokalani was awarded Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2021 Na Hoku Hanohano Award.

Chamber music is at the core of Lo’s musical passion. She has collaborated in concerts with members of world renowned string quartets such as the Juilliard String Quartet, the Cleveland Quartet, Quatuor Ysaÿe, and the Takacs Quartet, among others. In addition, she has performed with artists such as Glenn Dicterow, Peter Frankl, Roger Tapping, David Shifrin, Margaret Betjer, and Andrew Shulman. Lo has been invited as a guest artist to concert series such as Camera Lucida in San Diego, Sunset MusicFest, Le Salon de Musiques, the Castleton Chamber Players and the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Her festival appearances include Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Saito Kinen Festival (now Seiji Ozawa Festival), ANA Music Week, Hawaii International Music Festival, Hawaii Chamber Music Festival and Rencontres Franco Américaines de Musique Chambre.

Lo enjoys exploring many genres of music including Jazz, bluegrass, and more. She has performed with Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck, ukulele star Jake Shimabukuro and bandoneon virtuoso/composer JP Jofre. She is a recording artist with the Vitamin String Quartet, known for its popular renditions of rock and pop music. Lo is a core member in Delirium Musicum (a boundary-pushing chamber ensemble that tackles music from Bach and Locatelli to Xenakis and Phillip Glass), which will be releasing a debut recording on the Warner Classics label in 2022-2023.

To inspire and encourage everyone to lead a creative life through performances and teaching is Lo’s personal mission. In addition to maintaining her private studio online and in-person, she is a recurring faculty at the Deutsch-Polnische Festival für junge Musiker in Bremen. In collaboration with the Liliʻuokalani Trust and Mana Music Hawaii, Lo is a teaching artist mentoring young Hawaiian children and youths in various projects and summer programs. She has served as a jury member for the International Music Competition Opus 2022.

A graduate of the University of Southern California (DMA) with an Outstanding Achievement Award, Lo also holds degrees from Yale School of Music (MM) the New England Conservatory (BM). She has worked closely with Ralph Kirshbaum, Roger Tapping, Daniel Phillips, Donald Weilerstein, and members of the Tokyo String Quartet, in addition to her primary mentors: Glenn Dicterow, Syoko Aki, and Masuko Ushioda.

Aside from music, Lo loves reading, drawing, cooking, and watching films. She also enjoys running, yoga, learning to play Go and experimenting with cameras in her spare time.