Lei Hou, Violin

Biography

Lei Hou joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1997. Active as a soloist and chamber musician in
addition to her full-time duty with the CSO, Lei recently performed in an all-Mozart chamber music concert with Pinchas Zukerman at the
Ravinia Music Festival, and a string quartet concert tour in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy with fellow CSO members. She has
recorded chamber music works by Mozart and Hoffmeister for the Saarlandischer Rundfunk in Germany. Lei recently ended her tenure as
a violinist of the Manchester String Quartet in Washington, D.C. where she was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra from
1991-1997. A native of Dalian, China, Lei studied violin in the Music Middle School of the Shanghai Conservatory and graduated with
top honors. She continued her studies under full scholarship at the Peabody Conservatory. She also studied with Earl Carlyss, formerly
of the Juilliard Quartet, and Sylvia Rosenberg, and earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance from the Peabody Conservatory.