Since his brilliant success at the 2018 ARD International Music Competition—where he won first prize in the viola category, the Audience Prize, and several special awards—violist Diyang Mei has steadily advanced his international career. Since 2022, he has served as the 1st Principal Viola of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Diyang Mei has performed with major orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He organized and led a concert tour in China with the Berlin Baroque Soloists, performing as soloist and recording a concerto album on Sony Classical with them. Alongside his solo activities, he regularly participates in chamber music, frequently collaborating with renowned musicians and ensembles. He has also appeared at prestigious festivals such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwetzingen, and the Mozartfest in Würzburg.

Before joining the Berlin Philharmonic, he was principal viola of the Munich Philharmonic from 2019 to 2022. He currently holds a visiting professorship at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin.

Diyang Mei has won first prizes at the 52nd International Instrumental Competition for Viola in Markneukirchen (2017), the International Max Rostal Competition in Berlin (2015), the Kulturkreis Gasteig Musikpreis in Munich (2015), the IVC Young Artist Competition in Rochester (2012), among others. He studied with Shaowu Wang in Beijing, Hariolf Schlichtig in Munich, and Nobuko Imai at the Kronberg Academy. He is a fellowship winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and plays on a viola made by Antonio Mariani around 1646, generously loaned to him by a member of the Stretton Society.