Stanford Philharmonia Soloist and Guest Conductor – Fall 2021

Roger Xia ‘24, a Stanford sophomore, is a member of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. He graduated from Davis Senior High School in California and studied in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division as a scholarship student. He started piano lessons at the age of five and violin lessons at seven, and continues his lessons at Stanford with Thomas Schultz and Owen Dalby, respectively. Roger has studied piano with Linda Beaulieu, Natsuki Fukasawa, and Richard Cionco, and violin with Dong Ho and William Barbini. He was a National Young Arts Foundation winner in 2018 and 2020, and was selected as a member of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA) in 2019 and 2020. Roger was the concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2017–20, and performed as a piano soloist with the orchestra. Aside from music, Roger enjoys ping pong, kung fu, and skiing.

Richard Cheung ’24 is a Stanford sophomore from Hong Kong who plans to major in Computer Science and minor in Music. He started playing the violin and piano when he was five years old, and currently continues his violin
lessons with Robin Sharp and Connie Lo. Richard has also studied with Professor Boris Kuschnir and the late maestro Aaron Rosand. He performs and participates in various competitions. He was invited by TVB, Hong Kong’s biggest television network, to perform at the 2016 Caritas Charity Concert. Richard also performed in Carnegie Hall at the International Talent Competition Winner’s Recital 2017, hosted by American Protégé, where he received both First Prize and a Judge’s Distinction Award. Before arriving at Stanford, where he is currently a member of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Richard was concertmaster of the ESF (English Schools Foundation) Music Festival Concertante Orchestra in Hong Kong. Besides music, Richard enjoys hiking, cooking, and hockey.

Joshua Chang ‘21 is a coterm student at Stanford University studying Computer Science with a minor in Music. He is from Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where he began studying piano at the age of five, and also played organ, violin, and horn. In high school, Joshua played horn in various ensembles throughout the country, including the NAFME All-National Band and All-Eastern Orchestra. He also played Principal Horn in the New England Music Festival Orchestra, Connecticut All-State Orchestra, and the Greater New Haven Youth Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 was selected as an alternate for the National Youth Symphony Orchestra. At Stanford, Joshua has played in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. He began conducting during his senior year of high school, studying under his band director at the time, and has continued his conducting studies at Stanford with Paul Phillips. Joshua served as Music Director for Stanford Ram’s Head productions of The Addams Family (2019) and Pippin (2020), and led a masterclass on musical theater conducting as part of the Ram’s Head Workshop series. Joshua is an avid outdoors enthusiast who enjoys hiking and backpacking. He also loves cooking, playing tennis, and traveling.