He is a violist born in Taiwan and after moving to the USA as a child was raised in California. He has studied at the Juilliard School and earned his degree from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. He has also been coached by the American String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Paul Biss, Miriam Fried and Samuel Rhodes among others.
He became a violist with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1995 and has also performed as Principal Viola with the Charleston Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, the New World Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Conductors he has played for include Christoph Eschenbach, Eiji Oue and Michael Tilson Thomas.
As a chamber musician he is the Principal Viola with the Minnesota Bach Ensemble and has worked with the Isles Ensemble and artists such as Joshua Bell, Jon Kimura Parker, Andrew Litton and Pamela Frank among others. He has participated at the New York String Seminar and the Ravinia, Caramoor, Lakes Area, Pacific and Taos music festivals.
Apart from working with the Minnesota Orchestra he has been Principal Viola at the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience and performed and/or recorded with the artist Prince and several others.
Recordings he has performed on include Franz Schubert: Death and the Maiden by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Sources:
- https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/about/our-people/orchestra-musicians/sifei-cheng/
- https://content.thespco.org/people/sifei-cheng/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sifei-cheng-613384a?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- https://lakesareamusic.org/people/sifei-cheng/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/5996094-Sifei-Cheng