ABOUT
Lily Stern is a cellist from Santa Monica, California. Her approach to concert programming and performing is informed by studies in cognitive science and a conviction that empathy is key to a transformative audience experience. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, she strives to push beyond the bounds of how classical music is typically presented and to enhance the concert experience for listeners. Lily completed studies in cello performance and psychology in the New England Conservatory (NEC) and Tufts University dual degree program in 2025, under the tutelage of Yeesun Kim. A National Merit Scholar, she graduated summa cum laude at Tufts and with Academic Honors at NEC.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, Lily will move to Paris and join the Fondation des États-Unis as a Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, studying the cello works and lives of four French female composers: Marie Jaëll, Rita Strohl, Nadia Boulanger, and Betsy Jolas. Educational concerts at the culmination of her studies will utilize techniques of audience engagement which emphasize the role of empathy to build conduits of understanding between listener and composer. She will study with Anssi Karttunen and Diana Ligeti at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and CRR de Rueil-Malmaison.
Lily has given solo and chamber recitals at music festivals in the United States and internationally, including Fontainebleau Conservatoire Américain, Kammarmusikens Vänner Stockholm, BU Tanglewood Institute, Verão Clássico in Portugal, and Oslo Kammermusikkfestival, where she collaborated and performed alongside the Danish String Quartet.
She has played in masterclasses for renowned artists including Gary Hoffman, Robert Levin, Lynn Harrell, Torleif Thedéen, Anssi Karttunen, Philippe Muller, Ophélie Gaillard, and members of the Ébène Quartet. Through the Pratt Early Music Residency at NEC, she has had the opportunity to work with Guy Fishman, Principal Cellist of the Handel and Haydn Society.
Her most recent large ensemble engagements have been with the Handel and Haydn Society and New England Conservatory Philharmonia, where she led the section as associate principal. Additionally, Lily was a member of the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival Mass Cello Ensemble in 2016, performing alongside renowned artists including Mischa Maisky, Sol Gabetta, Ron Leonard, and Ralph Kirshbaum, among others. Lily is also a member of interdisciplinary/multimedia performance group, Magari Ensemble.
Passionate about community outreach, Lily’s quartet and duo were awarded the Community Performance Partnerships Fellowship at NEC three years in a row. Through this program, she created and performed interactive programs in the Boston community, public schools and elder care facilities. She has volunteered her time as a cello teacher for students who would not have this opportunity otherwise through Kenya International Chamber Music Festival. Lily has performed with Street Symphony, an award winning organization that works to uplift and aid the homeless Skid Row community in Los Angeles through outreach and music.
Lily’s love of music coupled with an interest in cognitive science have led her to study the intersection of these disciplines as a research assistant at the Brain and Music Lab at the University of Southern California and Music Cognition Lab at Tufts University. Lily seeks to bridge the gap between music performance and research, integrating her music cognition studies into performance, concert programming, and teaching.
When she is not practicing or studying psychology, Lily enjoys running, playing tennis, cooking, and spending time with her friends, family, and two cats, Cleo and Pumpkin.