Sunny Yang

Principal Cello

Sunny Yang joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Cello in 2025. Described as "coolly unflappable and supremely competent" and selected as one of the Faces to Watch by The Los Angeles Times, Sunny Yang's international career encompasses diverse collaborations across musical genres and art forms.

For ten years, she was a member of the Kronos Quartet, touring extensively and collaborating with composers and artists to continually reimagine the concert experience as a living art form. She has commissioned over 500 works, released more than 20 critically acclaimed albums, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a GRAMMY Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, the German Critics Award, and the Edison Klassiek Award. She has held the Richard and Barbara Debs Creative Chair at Carnegie Hall, and an Honorary Fellowship at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. 

Sunny has led workshops and masterclasses at major institutions worldwide, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, and the Washington Performing Center for the Arts. She was instrumental in the development and launch of Fifty for the Future, a landmark educational initiative that commissioned fifty contemporary works and made them freely accessible to the public.