Violinist Hai-Xin Wu joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra violin section in July 1995 and was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the DSO in June 2004. He previously performed throughout the United States, Europe and his native China.

At the age of 12, Hai-Xin was selected as the violin soloist of the Chinese Young Artists’ group to tour the former Yugoslavia. In May 1995, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City, performing the Paganini Violin Concerto with the New York Concert Senior Orchestra. Hai-Xin was also featured as soloist with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra for its 25th Anniversary Gala Concert in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center; with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra on its recording and Midwest tour; and with Bergen Philharmonic (New Jersey), among others.

Hai-Xin has won competitions including the Waldo Mayo Violin Competition, the Friends of Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Competition and the Manhattan School of Music Concerto Competition. He also won a special prize in the 2002 Lipizer International Competition. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student of Ariana Bronne.

In addition to performing with the DSO, Hai-Xin often plays with various chamber groups, such as the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings and the Cuttime Players. From 1998-2001, he was a member of the Sonnet String Quartet as quartet-in-residence at Oakland University. He is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Wayne State University Music Department and a violin and chamber music coach with the Detroit Civic Orchestra.

Born in Chicago, Rachel studied violin with David and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where the faculty awarded her the coveted Joseph and Elsie Scharff Prize in Violin and the Dr. Jerome Gross Prize. Previous teachers have included Michael Avsharian, Steven Shipps and Sonja Foster.

In the fall of 2004, she won the concerto competition at the Cleveland Institute and performed the Bartok Concerto with the CIM Orchestra. In June of 2005, Rachel was a prizewinner in the International Irving M. Klein String Competition, Kingsville, and Stulber Competition. She was also the grand prize winner of the Corpus Christi International String Competition. She has soloed with various orchestras, including the Asheville, Kalamazoo, Corpus Christi and Colorado symphonies.

Rachel is an avid chamber music player and was a violinist for many years in the Harding Piano trio, along with her two sisters. The Harding Trio won prizes in the Fischoff, Coleman and ASTA chamber competitions. In 2009, Rachel won a position with the Colorado Symphony as Assistant Concert Master. In 2012, Rachel joined the DSO as a member of the second violins, moving to the first violin section the following year.

Han Zheng was born in Guangdong Shantou, China, where he was raised in a home often filled with the sounds of classical music. His father, Goumin, was a professional violinist who performed with local ensembles. He became Han’s first music teacher.

Han’s father saw promise in his young son and sent him to Guangzhou, China, at age 12 to study music with violinist Dong He of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. At 14, Han entered the Guangzhou Conservatory of Music, where he took up the viola simply because the school needed a violist. He later continued his viola studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 1988, Han enrolled in the Central Conservatory of Music in the former Inner City of Beijing.

While a student at the conservatory, Zheng was appointed Principal Viola of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra. He performed with the orchestra throughout China, as well as in Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It was with the youth symphony that Han made his solo debut. In 1992, he joined the China National Symphony Orchestra, which was sanctioned by the Ministry of Culture as the nation’s primary symphony orchestra.

In 1997, Han came to the United States to further his music career. The following year, he entered the Music Conservatory at Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts in Chicago. Soon after, Han auditioned for and won the position of Principal Viola with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. In the 1999-2000 season, Han began substituting with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. When a viola position with the DSO opened up, he auditioned and won the seat in September 2001. He and his wife, Xuan Yang, a flutist he met in Beijing, moved to Detroit shortly after he won the DSO audition. In his spare time, he enjoys home decorating, gardening and spending time with his wife and son, Caleb.

Peter McCaffrey has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra cello section since 2012.

Prior to joining the DSO, Peter served as principal cellist of the Louisville Orchestra and of the South Florida Symphony. Since moving to Detroit, Peter has become an advocate for the roll that the arts can play in helping to revitalize a city. He is frequently found performing in schools, hospitals, retirement homes, bars, religious institutions, and was featured in a National Geographic video about the comeback of Detroit.

Peter has soloed with many orchestras, including subscription concerts with the Louisville Orchestra, the Royal Oak Symphony and the Windy City String Ensemble while on tour in Australia. As a chamber musician, Peter has had the opportunity to travel around the country and abroad performing in concert series and music festivals. His college string quartet was a finalist in the Coleman International Chamber Music Competition, and he currently performs with the Great Waters String quartet made up of fellow DSO musicians.

Peter earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in cello performance from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. His primary teachers have been Eleonore Schoenfeld, Gerard Mantel, Richard Hirschl, and Gilda Barston. Peter performs on an 1880 Postiglione cello.