As we begin our final season, it's important to remember that the Boston Philharmonic is more than mere concerts.

This Saturday, October 3, 2026 from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the First Church in Cambridge, Ben Zander will host his first Interpretation Class of the season!

Featuring our longtime pianist and artistic collaborator, Dina Vainshtein, this is your opportunity to see Mr. Zander in action as a master teacher as he helps these young artists find the passion in their music and perfect their technique.

All performances are open to the public and will be filmed.

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PROGRAM
Please click the links to download the music and follow along!

Heming Cao, tenor
Dina Vainshtein, piano

1. Lied der Mignon D.877, No. 4 in A minor

2. Das Wandern from Die schöne Müllerin Op. 25

Hayden Ren, cello
Dina Vainshtein, piano

1. Dvořák Cello Concerto, Mov. 2 & 3

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THE ARTISTS

Hayden Ren

Hayden Ren began studying cello at age eight in New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School with Allison Eldredge and currently studies with Blaise Dejardin.

She was the First Prize winner of the 2025–2026 and 2023–2024 NEC Prep Concerto Competitions, as well as the First Prize winner of the 2021 Solo String (Cello) Competition in her age category. She was also the winner of the 2025 Boston Civic Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, the 2025 Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the 2024 New England Philharmonic Young Artist Competition. In 2025, she received the Grand Prize at the International Antonín Dvořák Classical Music Competition and Second Prize at the Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition. She also received Second Prize in the 2026 Harvard Musical Association High School Achievement Competition.

Hayden has performed as a soloist with the Boston Civic Symphony, NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, NEC Youth Symphony, Sharon Community Chamber Orchestra, Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, and ASMI Chamber Orchestra in Italy. Her performances have taken her to renowned venues including Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall.

Hayden is an incoming freshman at Harvard University and hopes to inspire greater appreciation for classical music through her performances.

Heming Cao

Heming Cao is a tenor, chorus director, and composer based in Boston.

As a conductor, Heming has served as director of the Student Choir of Nankai University, the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra Affiliated Youth Choir, and the Tianjin Philharmonic Chamber Choir. He participated in and directed "Alexander Nevsky Cantata", "The Yellow River Cantata", "The Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature Concert", "The Springtime of Bo Sea" and music recording works for the movie "108". As a music educator, he founded Jungle Children Voice and Alma Female Choir in Tianjin. He recently began tenure as Music Director of The New Moon Choirs in the Boston area. As a tenor, Heming's voice is warm and bright. He has played the role of Nemorino from L'elisir d'amore, and Ferando from Così fan tutte. He has also sung solo roles in much of the standard oratorio and concert repertoire, like "Messiah" by Handel, "Weihnachts-Oratorium", "Mass in B minor", "St. Matthew Passion" by Bach, etc.

Recently he sang as a tenor soloist in Monteverdi's Vespers with Cantata Singers at the Boston Choral Festival. He is currently a voice performance diploma student at Boston University. Heming holds an M.M. degree from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and B.S. degree from Nankai University (China).

Dina Vainshtein

Pianist Dina Vainshtein collaborates with some of the most promising musicians of our time. Now based in Boston, she is the daughter of two pianists, and studied with Boris Berlin and Arthur Aksenov at the prestigious Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. At the 1998 International Tchaikovsky Competition, she received the Special Prize for the Best Collaborative Pianist.

In recent concerts she has collaborated with violinists Miriam Fried, Yura Lee, Karen Gomyo, Chad Hoopes, Caroline Goulding, Zina Schiff, Alexi Kenney, and Angelo Yu; cellists Natasha Brofsky and Amit Peled; as well as the Borromeo String Quartet.

She came to the United States in 2000 to attend the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she worked with Vivian Hornik Weilerstein and Donald Weilerstein. She soon found numerous performing opportunities in the US, from Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York City, to the Caramoor Festival, Music at Menlo, the Ravinia Festival, the Music Academy in the West at Santa Barbara, not to mention tours of Japan, China, Europe, and Russia.

Bob McQuiston reviewed the recent Naxos release of Emile Sauret’s violin showpieces featuring Michi Wianko and Vainshtein: “She couldn’t have a better partner than Ms. Vainshtein, who plays the perfect supporting role in these fiddle-dominated pieces. More specifically, she exercises a perfect balancing act between artistic reserve during bravura violin passages as opposed to compelling dramatic assertiveness when the piano is spotlighted.” Vainshtein made another acclaimed Naxos recital disc with Frank Huang, the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.

For nearly a decade, Vainshtein has been affiliated with the New England Conservatory and the Walnut Hill School, where she teaches chamber music. At both institutions she worked with Benjamin Zander in his renowned interpretation classes. Maestro Zander praised their collaboration as “the perfect partnership; [she is] the ultimate professional.”

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ABOUT INTERPRETATION CLASSES

From 1965-2012, Ben was on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), where he taught Musical Interpretation and conducted the Youth Philharmonic and the Conservatory orchestras. He was the founding Artistic Director of NEC’s joint program with The Walnut Hill School, a high school for the Performing Arts. Ben led the NEC Youth Philharmonic on fifteen international tours and made several documentaries for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). His class on Musical Interpretation attracted students from all over the world.

These classes now take place periodically in public venues around Boston and are made available on YouTube, where millions of people watch them worldwide.