Cellist Yumi Kendall joined The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2004 as assistant principal cello after graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, Ms. Kendall studied with David Soyer and Peter Wiley. Ms. Kendall began studying cello at the age of five following the Suzuki method; made her recital debut at age seven in Boulder, Colorado; and, following the completion of the Suzuki method, continued to study for seven years with National Symphony principal cello David Hardy. In 1998 Ms Kendall made her orchestral solo debut with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as winner of tehe Orchestra's Young Soloists' Competition.

Her participation in festivals and chamber music includes Music from Angel Fire, the Verbier Festival, the Marlboro Festival, touring with Musicians from Marlboro, the Taos School of Music, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, and Carnegie Hall’s Emerson String Quartet Workshop. Ms. Kendall is also a member of the Dryden String Quartet, which includes her brother, violinist Nicolas Kendall, a member of the string trio Time for Three; their cousin Daniel Foster, principal viola of the National Symphony; and Nurit Bar-Josef, concertmaster of the National Symphony.

Recipient of several awards and honors, Ms. Kendall won first place in the Friday Morning Music Club Competition, first place in the National Symphony Young Soloists’ Competition, and the judges’ commendation award at the Johansen International Competition. She has served on the faculties of the New York State School for Orchestral Studies, the Strings International Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania chamber music department, in addition to teaching privately.