The Avalon Quartet has performed in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St Y, Merkin Hall, and Bargemusic in New York; the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Wigmore Hall in London; and Herculessaal in Munich. Other performances include appearances at the Bath International Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Caramoor, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, NPR’s St. Paul Sunday, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Los Angeles Music Guild, and the Ravinia Festival. The quartet is performing the complete Beethoven Cycle for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Celebration at its concert series in historic Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University. In recent seasons, the Avalon presented the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Bartok, and Brahms at Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Avalon is quartet-in-residence at the Northern Illinois University School of Music, a position formerly held by the Vermeer Quartet. Additional teaching activities have included the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Institute, Interlochen Advanced Quartet Program, Madeline Island Music Camp, and the Britten-Pears School in England, as well as masterclasses at universities and conservatories throughout the United States. Additionally, they have given numerous performances and presentations to young audiences in under-resourced schools and communities.

Commended for his “perceptive pianism” (Audiophile) and “playing that is sensitive and wonderfully  warm” (American Record Guide), Chicagoan Kuang-Hao Huang is a highly sought-after collaborative  pianist whose performances have taken him throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He has  performed in New York City’s Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Merkin Hall; in Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and NPR’s Tiny Desk; and at every major venue in the Chicago area, including the Harris Theatre and Symphony Center. He is often heard live on WFMT and has also performed on WQXR and on Medici.tv. Mr. Huang has recorded for Aucourant, Cedille, Innova and Naxos, including a CD of flute fantasies with flutist Mathieu Dufour, a premiere recording of early  songs by Alban Berg with mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley, and a survey of songs by Chicago composers with baritone Thomas Hampson. Beginning in 2022, Mr. Huang will be heard with violinist Augustin Hadelich on the official recordings for Suzuki Violin Books 4-6.

A strong advocate of new music, Mr. Huang is a core member of Fulcrum Point New Music Project and  Picosa. He has premiered numerous works, including pieces by Laurie Altman, Mason Bates, Jacob Bancks, Randy Bauer, Kyong Mee Choi, Stacy Garrop, John Harbison, Daniel Kellogg and Shulamit Ran.  Mr. Huang gave the world premiere performances of works by Louis Andriessen and Chen Yi at Weill Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s Millennium Piano Book Project. He has appeared on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series.

A dedicated teacher, Mr. Huang serves on the faculties of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Concordia University-Chicago. He has also taught at the Bienen School of  Music at Northwestern University.

From 2014-2021, Mr. Huang was the driving force behind Make Music Chicago (makemusicchicago.org),  a citywide celebration of music every June 21st. He also founded the organization’s Pianos in the Parks  program, which partners with the Chicago Park District to give all Chicagoans access to outdoor pianos as  well as free lessons. Currently, Mr. Huang serves on the Advisory Council for the Make Music Alliance and  also serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.