First Violin

Violinist Tianpei Ai joined the Nashville Symphony in September 2023. Born in Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, he began studying the violin at the age of five. 

Tianpei holds a Bachelor of Music from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Weigang Li, and Arnold Steinhardt. Concurrently, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Historical Studies from Bard College. In 2018, Tianpei was awarded the Bard College Conservatory of Music Prize. He later completed his Master of Music at the Yale School of Music where he was a student of Syoko Aki. 

Tianpei was the co-concertmaster of music festival orchestras such as the Asian Youth Orchestra (2012), the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra Academy (2017) and the Grafenegg Academy Orchestra (2018). He also attended the Aspen Music Festival and School (2019), the New York String Orchestra Seminar (2015 & 2016) and the Keshet Eilon International String Mastercourse (Summer 2016). 

As a soloist, Tianpei collaborated with The Orchestra Now. He was third prize winner at the 2012 Hong Kong International Violin Competition and a participant in the 54th Premio Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy. 

Tianpei’s interests outside of music include reading and traveling.