Kunjing Dai is a multifaceted violist and teacher. As a devoted orchestra and chamber musician, she has worked with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Joffrey Ballet, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Her chamber collaborations include the Ying Quartet, Garth Newel Piano Quartet, and others. In addition, Kunjing’s passion towards contemporary music has led to performances with the Hear and Now contemporary ensemble in Houston, the Ying Quartet and Jennifer Higdon at the Bowdoin Festival, and the TMC Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood.
Since 2024, Kunjing has served on the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute coaching the Young Artists Orchestra program. She has taught viola lessons to non-majors and worked with the viola studio at Northwestern University since 2021. In addition, due to a special interest in music theory and history, Kunjing taught introductory music courses at Northwestern.
Kunjing Dai holds a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from the Juilliard School and a Master of Music from Rice University. She is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University where she studies under the Eckstein Scholarship. Her mentors include Misha Amory, Hsin-Yun Huang, James Dunham, and Helen Callus.