Meet Leland Ko

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 resides in Boston, with his 14-year-old cat, Ham.

Education:
New England Conservatory – (A.D. ’24),
The Juilliard School – (M.Mus. ’22),
Princeton University – (A.B. ’20)

Website/Social:
Website: lelandko.com