ABOUT
Lily Stern is a cellist originally from Santa Monica, California. Her approach to music, 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. As of fall 2026, Lily joins Elizabeth Margulis’ Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University as a PhD student in musicology.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, Lily was a Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar at the Fondation des États-Unis (FEU) in Paris, France. Her grant project focused on the intersection of music and empathy. An educational concert at the culmination of her research in May 2026 highlighted the cello works and lives of four French female composers: Marie Jaëll, Rita Strohl, Nadia Boulanger, and Betsy Jolas with the goal of building conduits of understanding between listener and composer. During this year abroad, Lily studied with cello pedagogues Anssi Karttunen and Diana Ligeti. Lily and fellow Fulbright-HHW scholar Katya Vaz were awarded an additional grant by the Cité Universitaire de Paris Residents' Initiative Fund for their collaborative project: an immersive concert and art installation centered on the idea of cultural memory and nostalgia. Commissioned composers from around the world wrote pieces of music for this concert during which visual art was created live from the vibrations of sound. This event, Saudade: Mémoire et Traces, took place at the FEU in June 2026.
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. During her Fulbright-HHW grant, Lily performed in two recitals at the historic United States Embassy Hôtel de Talleyrand — George C. Marshall Center in Paris.
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. She worked as a research assistant at the Brain and Music Lab at the University of Southern California and Music Cognition Lab at Tufts University. Now as a PhD student, 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.