About

Join us at Cecilia’s Retreat, 1199 Oakland Rd., RR2 in Mahone Bay, on Saturday, June 7 at 4 pm, as we welcome two young, international artists who are spending time in Lunenburg as guests of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (LAMP) – cellist Leland Ko and pianist Adria Ye. This event celebrates the extraordinary opportunities for young musicians and concert goers through LAMP and all proceeds will support these initiatives. Musique Royale is honoured to collaborate with LAMP (www.lamp.ns) in presenting the artists at Cecilia’s Retreat.

A Note on Leland and Adria’s Program

The British composer Thomas Adés once wrote, “I don’t know why it is that the cello of all instruments makes one dream of ‘Elsewhere’ when one hears it… Perhaps because the colors are so rich and wide-ranging, one can dream and find oneself in a different place.” The collection of works on this program capitalizes on this idea: from the dreaminess of Nadia Boulanger, the restlessness of Robert Schumann, and the exuberance of Felix Mendelssohn to the private world of Gabriel Fauré and the downright mythology of Olivier Messiaen, these pieces (and the sounds they demand of the cello and piano) are an invitation to be transported or to engage in escapism. But then, of course, perhaps all music is… - Leland Ko

NADIA BOULANGER Three pieces for cello and piano.
ROBERT SCHUMANN FAE intermezzo.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonata No. 1.
GABRIEL FAURÉ Cello Sonata No. 1.
OLIVIER MESSIAEN Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus, from Quartet for the End of Time.

About the Artists

Leland Philip Ko – cello

Cellist Leland Philip Ko (b. 1998) is the kind of person who is always asking “why” — American-born but of Chinese-Canadian descent, schooled at both university and conservatory, and extremely thorough in any number of activities ranging from competitive tennis and distance-running to home-baking and origami, he wants to find the similarities between seemingly disparate things, and in doing so hopefully find something human in everything.

Described as someone with “Disarming charisma” (South Florida Classical Review) yet simultaneously as someone “Byronic” and “excelling in both poetic longing and dramatic outbursts” (Boston Classical Review), Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America and abroad. He is the first prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition and the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition.

Highlights for Leland’s 2025-2026 season include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and the DuPage Symphony, as well as at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.

Leland was born and raised in Boston before attending Princeton University (A.B.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the New England Conservatory (A.D.). He performs on a G. B. Rugeri cello, Cremona, c. 1710, ex-Denis Vigay, on generous loan to him from Canimex Inc.; his professional development activities are generously supported by Marilyn G. and Joseph B. Schwartz. He resides in Boston, with his 13-year-old cat, Ham.

Adria Ye – piano

Chinese-American pianist Adria Ye has been driven from a young age by a hopeless fascination with music. Described by cellist David Finckel as having a “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct,” she made her orchestral debut at nine with the Oregon Sinfonietta, and has since performed as soloist and chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States.

She has been featured in radio broadcasts of “Performance Today” with Fred Child, and National Public Radio’s “From the Top.” Most recently, she was the recipient of the Paul Streit Special Prize at the 2022 Concours de Genéve, and was the winner of the 2022 Music Academy of the West Solo Piano Competition.

An avid chamber musician, Adria has also participated in and performed at festivals including the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival’s Spring Workshop, the Innsbrook Institute, and the David Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She frequently collaborates with and performs with cellist Leland Ko.

Adria earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin, and a Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory with Wha-Kyung Byun.