ROCHESTER STUDENT MUSICIANS

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SHARE MUSIC WITH OTHERS ∙ GAIN PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE

EARN COMMUNITY SERVICE CREDIT

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Any Rochester-area student can join. There are no requirements for how many performances you must attend.

You will receive opportunities to sign up for performances based on YOUR availability. The number of performances and pieces you play is 100% up to you.

About Us

Rochester Student Musicians is a community service organization run by local high school students. It was created in September of 2023 by Howard Tang, Cailey Huang, and Timothy Seo.

Our Mission

To help student musicians:

1. Share music with others

2. Give back to the community

3. Gain valuable performance experience

Performances

Rochester Student Musicians performs up to a couple times per month at local retirement homes. The group has recently performed at The Highlands at Pittsford, St. John's Meadows, and Monroe Community Hospital. See photos and videos from our past shows below!

Photo & Video Album

Meet the Team

Rochester Student Musicians is currently run by Evan Dai, Karthik Jaligama, and Youyou Wu.

Karthik Jaligama

Karthik Jaligama is a senior at Pittsford Mendon High School. He has been playing the viola for 7 years at the Kanack School of Musical Artistry and has been the co-principal violist in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO) for 3 years. He has also attended the Colburn's Summer Chamber Intensive, and was the principal violist for NYSSMA’s Conference All-State Orchestra (2024) and Zone 2 Area All-State Orchestra (2025).

Karthik is in charge of scheduling and running our monthly performances.

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Evan Dai

Evan Dai is a senior at Pittsford Mendon High School. He has been playing the violin for 9 years and is a violinist in the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra (HYSO). He also takes composition classes at the Eastman Community Music School (ECMS). He is a recipient of the HYSO George A. Petterson Memorial Scholarship (2024) and ECMS Harry P. Messina, Jr. Scholarship for Theory and Composition (2024).

Evan is in charge of making forms and programs for our monthly performances.

Youyou Wu

Youyou Wu is a junior at Pittsford Mendon High School. She has been playing the violin for 6 years and is a violinist in the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra (HYSO). Youyou is a four-time All-County, four-time Area All-State Orchestra selectee and a three-time recipient of the prestigious Hochstein Merit Scholarship. She was also selected as an alternate for NYSSMA's Conference All-State Orchestra (2025).

Youyou is in charge of taking pictures and videos of our monthly performances.

Meet the Founders

Rochester Student Musicians was created by Howard Tang, Cailey Huang, and Timothy Seo in September of 2023.

Howard Tang

Howard Tang was a senior at Pittsford Mendon High School. As of 2025, he has played violin for 4 years and piano for 9 years. Howard studied piano with Professor Irina Lupines at the Eastman Community Music School.

He is currently attending Princeton University.

Cailey Huang

Cailey Huang was a senior at Pittsford Mendon High School. As of 2025, she has been playing violin for 12 years and was a first violinist in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Mendon's Symphony Orchestra. Before co-founding Rochester Student Musicians, Cailey and her sister Katherine performed music at various local retirement homes.

She is currently attending the University of Notre Dame.

Timothy Seo

Timothy Seo was a senior at Pittsford Mendon High School. As of 2025, he has been playing violin for 13 years. Timothy played first violin in Mendon's Symphony Orchestra and was co-concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Timothy also attended the renowned Meadowmount School of Music.

He is currently attending Yale University.