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GENEVA LEWIS
violin

New Zealand-born violinist GENEVA LEWIS has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Lauded for the “remarkable mastery of her instrument” (CVNC) and hailed as “clearly one to watch” (Musical America), Geneva is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Other recent accolades include Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize and being named a Finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition, a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, and Musical America’s New Artist of the Month.
 
After her solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena Symphony, Geneva has gone on to perform with orchestras around the world, including recent and forthcoming appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Sarasota Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, Augusta Symphony, and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with a number of notable conductors, including Nic McGegan, Edwin Outwater, and Michael Feinstein, and looks forward to collaborations with Giordano Bellincampi, Sameer Patel, Peter Rubardt, and Dirk Meyer. In recital, recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, Tippet Rise, Emory University, Purdue Convocations, Kravis Center, and Myra Hess, among others.
 
While Geneva’s claim to chamber music fame came early on as a member of the renowned Lewis Family Trio with her siblings Nathan (piano) and Rochelle (cello), she has since established the Callisto Trio, Artist-in-Residence at the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Callisto received the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff Competition as the youngest group to ever compete in the senior division finals. They were recently invited on the Masters on Tour series of the International Holland Music Sessions and performed at the celebrated Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Deeply passionate about collaboration, Geneva has had the pleasure of performing with such prominent musicians as Atar Arad, Efe Baltacigil, Glenn Dicterow, Miriam Fried, Ilya Kaler, Michael Kannen, Kim Kashkashian, Ida Kavafian, Marcy Rosen, Mitsuko Uchida, and the Borromeo String Quartet, among others.
 
An advocate of community engagement and music education, Geneva was selected for the New England Conservatory’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program’s Ensemble Fellowship, through which her string quartet created interactive educational programs for audiences throughout Boston. Her quartet was also chosen for the Virginia Arts Festival Residency, during which they performed and presented masterclasses in elementary, middle, and high schools.
 
Geneva is currently in the Artist Diploma program as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory studying with Miriam Fried. Past summers have taken her to the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Workshop, International Holland Music Sessions, Taos School of Music and the Heifetz International Music Institute.
 
Geneva is currently performing on a violin by Zosimo Bergonzi of Cremona, c. 1770 courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Chicago. 

About our Rising Stars
ChamberFest Cleveland’s Rising Stars are recognized for their extraordinary talent. They are invited to deepen their connection to the art of chamber music by immersing themselves in the festival, rehearsing side by side with the leading chamber musicians of our time, and performing in a professional concert setting for discerning audiences and critics alike.

MATTHEW LIPMAN
viola

American violist MATTHEW LIPMAN has been praised by the New York Times for his “rich tone and elegant phrasing,” and by the Chicago Tribune for a “splendid technique and musical sensitivity.” Lipman has come to be relied on as one of the leading players of his generation, frequently appearing as both a soloist and chamber music performer.

Lipman will debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the Rheingau Music Festival in the summer of 2021. Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Lipman has worked with conductors including Edward Gardner, the late Sir Neville Marriner, Osmo Vänskä, and Nicholas McGegan. Lipman was a featured performer with fellow violist Tabea Zimmermann at Michael Tilson Thomas’s 2019 Viola Visions Festival of the New World Symphony in Miami. His recent debuts include at the Aspen Music Festival, Seoul’s Kumho Art Hall, Wigmore Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and in recital at Carnegie Hall.

Ascent, his 2019 release by Cedille Records, was celebrated by The Strad as a “most impressive” debut album while Lipman is praised for his “authoritative phrasing and attractive sound.” The album marks the first ever recording of the recently discovered work by Shostakovich, Impromptu for viola and piano and of Clarice Assad’s Metamorfose for viola and piano, which Lipman commissioned for the recording. He has also been featured on the recording of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by the late Sir Neville Marriner. The album topped Billboard’s Classical Chart and has received praise by both the press and public.

Named the 2019 Artist-in-Residence for the American Viola Society, Lipman has additionally been featured on WFMT Chicago’s list “30 Under 30” of the world’s top classical musicians, and is a published contributor to The Strad, Strings and BBC Music magazines. He was featured on the second season of PBS’s ‘Now Hear This’ performing Schubert’s ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata with pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen.  He performs regularly on tour and at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at music festivals including the Morizburg Festival, St. Petersburg’s White Nights, Music@Menlo, Marlboro, Ravinia, Bridgehampton, Seattle, Saratoga, and Kissinger Sommer festivals. His regular chamber music partners include Tabea Zimmermann, Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, Sir András Schiff, Jeremy Denk, Stella Chen, and Pinchas Zukerman. Dedicated to expanding the repertoire for the viola, Lipman has also performed the premieres of works for viola by composers Helen Grime, Clarice Assad, David Ludwig and the American premiere of Monochromer GartenVI by Malika Kishino.  

Lipman is the recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Kovner Fellowship, and the Jack Kent Cooke Award, and is also a major prize winner in the Primrose, Tertis, Washington, Johansen, and Stulberg International Viola Competitions. He studied at The Juilliard School with Heidi Castleman, and was further mentored by Tabea Zimmermann at the Kronberg Academy. As an alum of the Bowers Program, Lipman occupies the Wallach Chair at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He performs on a 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola loaned through the generous efforts of the Pine Foundation.

NICOLE MARTIN
clarinet

NICOLE MARTIN is a clarinetist from Westbrook, Maine currently pursuing her undergraduate degree under the instruction of Franklin Cohen at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Nicole began her music career at Interlochen Center for the Arts, where she studied under Emil Khudyev and Bryan Conger. During that time she placed as a finalist in NPR’s “From the Top”. Nicole also premiered orchestral works while touring with the New York Philharmonic in 2016, and later performed chamber works alongside it’s members. Nicole has participated in multiple music festivals, most recently the Sarasota Music Festival in 2022. She has played in many local orchestras including the Mansfield Symphony and Youngstown Symphony, among others. Nicole is also an active chamber musician, and regularly performs around the Cleveland area with her group, the Cleveland Wind Trio, and her own jazz combo.

GABRIEL MARTINS
cello

Cellist GABRIEL MARTINS has established himself as one of the world’s most enthralling young artists, with a deep commitment to the timeless masterpieces of classical music. His artistry has already been recognized through an extensive list of accolades including the 2020 Concert Artists Guild – Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, the 2020 Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, the David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians Silver Medal, the Schadt String Competition Gold Medal, the Orford Music Award, and the Prague Spring Czech Music Fund Prize. These successes have lead to a number of high-profile debuts including Wigmore, Carnegie, and Merkin Halls, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Maison Symphonique in Montréal, and the Arkansas, Memphis, Indianapolis, New Russian State, Pacific, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. According to legendary cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, he has “revealed heart, passion, intellect, and a finely-nuanced palette of colors in a compelling manner worthy of a seasoned artist.”
 
For Martins, great masterpieces require great patience and solemnity in order to reveal their true, extraordinary capabilities. His powerful belief in this is what drives his distinctive, emotive performances. In 2021, Martins gave his first complete Bach Suite Cycle, in collaboration with Kaufman Center and the Alphadyne Foundation, where he played all Six Cello Suites back to back in New York City. In the spring of 2022 he will debut his first complete Beethoven Cycle, in collaboration with pianist Audrey Vardanega and the Lakes Area Music Festival, performing and recording all of the works for Cello and Piano. In addition to his commitment to the great classics of the cello repertoire, Martins composes his own works and arranges many others. His “Songs of Solitude” received their World Premiere in the spring of 2021 in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library, and his new cello arrangements of Bach’s Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas have received high acclaim and a feature in The Strad Magazine. Martins’ performances have been broadcast on NPR, WQXR, KUSC, WFMT, and more. He is also a passionate educator, teaching privately and giving a number of masterclasses. He served as a teaching assistant both at the IU Jacobs School of Music and the USC Thornton School of Music, and his students have gone on to achieve major success in competitions and performances around the world.

Born of American and Brazilian heritage, Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He began playing the cello when he was five, studying with Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy. He went on to receive his B.M. as a Presidential Scholar at the USC Thornton School of Music with Ralph Kirshbaum. In his freshman year at USC, he won the school’s concerto competition as well as its Bach competition. He received his M.M. at the New England Conservatory of Music. His festival appearances have included Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, where he was also selected to tour with Miriam Fried, and the Aspen Music Festival, where he won the Concerto Competition. He plays on a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello made in Cremona, c. 1690 and a François Nicolas Voirin bow made in Paris, c. 1880. Martins resides in Boston, Massachusetts with his partner, violinist Geneva Lewis. 

SIVAN MAGEN
harp

Praised by the press as “a magician” (New York’s WQXR) whose “brilliant sound and remarkable technical acumen shatter any stereotype of his instrument” (The NY Times), SIVAN MAGEN transforms the harp into an expressive, colorful and virtuosic instrument, moving it to center stage through the exploration of the standard repertoire, the commissioning of today’s composers and his new adaptations to the harp of some of the greatest music of the last three centuries. Since fall 2017 he is Principal Harpist of the Finnish Radio Symphony.

The only Israeli to have ever won the International Harp Contest in Israel, Magen is a winner of the Pro Musicis International Award and in 2012 was chosen by a committee headed by Dame Mitsuko Uchida as the winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He appeared as a soloist across the US, South America, Europe and Israel, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Vienna Konzerthaus, and with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

Aside from his activity as a soloist, Mr Magen is an avid chamber musician and has appeared at the Marlboro, Aspen, Rosendal, Kuhmo, Delft, and Jerusalem International Chamber Music festivals, with Musicians from Marlboro, and collaborated with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Gary Hoffman, Emmanuel Pahud, Susanna Phillips, the Danel, Calder and Dover quartets and members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets.

He is a founding member of trio Tre Voci with flutist Marina Piccinini and violist Kim Kashkashian, with whom he has toured extensively in Europe and the US, and has released to great critical acclaim a CD for ECM of music by Debussy, Gubaidulina and Takemitsu. They are constantly working to expand the flute-viola-harp repertoire by commissioning arrangements and original pieces – their 2018 program included a new commission of a trio by Toshio Hosokawa which had its European premiere at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Since January 2008 Mr Magen is also a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project, a group which performs in both outreach venues and major concert halls in Israel and the US, including the Israeli Conservatoey in Tel Aviv, the Embassy Series in Washington D.C. and Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Town Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, the Morgan Library and Bargemusic in New York City. The ICP is the winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award. This past season, which was their 10th anniversary season, included extended tours in the west coast of the US, as well as in Canada, Europe and Israel.

Sivan Magen has released two solo albums for Linn Records, Fantasien, which includes mostly his own transcriptions of fantasies ranging from Bach to Brahms, and French Reflections, which explores connections between the French repertoire of the early 20th and of the early 21st centuries. Additionally were released to great critical acclaim a CD with the Israeli Chamber Project for Azica Records as well as an all-Britten CD Still Falls the Rain with tenor Nicholas Phan for Avie (listed in the NY Times’ “Best recordings of 2012”). His performance of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro is featured on the Marlboro festival’s 60th Anniversary CD.

Mr Magen is also gaining a reputation as a sought-after teacher, presenting masterclasses in schools such as The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute, The Peabody Institute, The New England Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, London’s Royal Academy, Royal College, Guildhall School and Trinity College, as well as the summer Academy in Nice, the Kuhmo Festival Academy in Finland, and the Aspen Msuic Festival. In addition, he has been invited to serve as member of the jury of the International Harp Contest in Israel, the first Netherlands International Harp Competition, the Lyon & Healy Awards and the 2011 Vera Dulova International Harp Competition in Moscow, and served as Head of the Jury of the 2007 National Harp Contest in Taiwan. Between 2013-2017 he was a faculty member of the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, and in spring 2017 he was an invited professor at the Paris Conservatory.

Born in Jerusalem, Sivan Magen studied the piano with Benjamin Oren and Talma Cohen and the harp with Irena Kaganovsky-Kessler at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. After completing his military service as an “Outstanding Musician” in 2001, he continued his studies with Germaine Lorenzini in France and then joined Isabelle Moretti’s harp class at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from which he graduated with a “Premier Prix”. He has then completed a Master of Music degree as a student of Nancy Allen at the Juilliard School.

LORNA McGHEE
flute

Scottish-born LORNA McGHEE was appointed principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Known for her “exceptionally rich and vibrant tone” (Washington Post) Lorna has performed as guest principal with Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has been fortunate to work with conductors such as Haitink, Gergiev, Rattle, Solti, Harnoncourt, Muti and Honeck. Before immigrating to North America in 1998, Lorna was co-principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, England. As a soloist, she has given concerto performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, and Victoria Symphony in Canada and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the USA. Career highlights include a performance of Penderecki’s flute concerto with the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra under the baton of the composer in 2004 and more recently, a performance of the Nielsen Flute Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2014 with Maestro Tortelier. As a chamber musician and recitalist, she has performed in Europe, North America, Australia, Singapore and Japan in such venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh International Festival, the Louvre, Paris, the Schubertsaal of Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Her performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio in Canada, BBC Radio, NPR (USA), Netherlands Radio and ABC (Australia). She has made chamber music recordings for EMI, Decca ASV, Naxos and Meridian. Her recording for Naxos of Bax’ Chamber Music with the group ‘mobius’ was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine. Along with Duo partner Heidi Krutzen, Lorna has released two CDs on Skylark Music: “Taheke, 20th century Masterpieces for flute and harp” and “Canada, New Works for flute and harp.” As a member of Trio Verlaine (with her husband, violist David Harding and harpist, Heidi Krutzen) Lorna has recorded two CDs: “Fin de Siècle,” the music by Debussy and Ravel, and “Six Departures”, featuring works by Bax and Jolivet as well as new commissions by Schafer and Cotton. Both the Trio and Duo are committed to broadening the repertoire and have contributed eight new commissions to date. Lorna’s first flute and piano recital disc, “ The Hour of Dreaming” with pianist, Piers Lane was released on the Beep label in 2014.

Having taught at the University of Michigan and the University of British Columbia, Lorna is now a member of the flute faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. She has given master classes at universities, conservatoires and flute festivals in the UK, USA, Japan and Canada, including Julliard School and the Royal Academy of Music. She often teaches at summer schools, including the Pender Island Flute Retreat, the William Bennett International Summer School, and the Galway Flute Festival. Lorna studied with David Nicholson in Scotland, and with Michie and William Bennett at the Royal Academy of Music, London. She is an honorary “Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.”

DAVE MORGAN
doublebass

The composer, improviser, and double bassist Dave Morgan has collaborated with a wide range of jazz, pop and classical artists. His most recent recording is “Blue Is More Than A Color” Morgan was a recipient of a “New Works: Creation and Presentation” grant from Chamber Music America, which resulted in his recording, The Way of the Sly Man, featuring Jack Schantz, Howie Smith, Jamey Haddad, and Dan Wall. Morgan also composed the music for The Surprise of Being—Live at Birdland by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Lovano. A Tri-C Jazz Fest concert of Morgan’s transcriptions and arrangements of the music of Frank Zappa for the Jazz Unit featuring Ernie Watts and Mark Wood earned an Award of Achievement from Northern Ohio Live. He performed this music as guest artist with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra in December 2012. Morgan collaborates in crossover projects with Apollo’s Fire, the Internationally-acclaimed Baroque ensemble, and occasionally performs with The Cleveland Orchestra as a jazz bassist and bass guitarist. The American Wind Symphony Orchestra has commissioned several pieces, including “Colors of Your Dreams,” “Reflections and Mediations”, and “The Art of Seven.” Several of Morgan’s orchestral pieces are recorded on Centaur Records. The YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble directed by Stephen Gage has released “Made In Youngstown” which includes three of his compositions for wind ensemble, featuring several YSU faculty members as guest soloists.

EVREN OZEL
piano

American pianist EVREN OZEL began his musical studies at age 3 in his hometown of Minneapolis, MN.  He has won numerous honors and awards including scholarships from the U.S Chopin Foundation and Young Arts Foundation, first prize at the 2016 Boston Symphony Concerto Competition, second prize at the 2016 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, and second prize as well as Mozart and Chopin special prizes at the 2018 Dublin International Piano Competition.  Most recently, he received second prize and special prizes for Best Mazurka and Best Polonaise at the 2020 U.S. National Chopin Competition securing the honor of representing the U.S.A in the International Chopin Competition which will take place in Warsaw, Poland in October 2021.  
 
Ozel has performed with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, RTE National Symphony and Boston Pops among others.  In 2018, as a freshman at New England Conservatory, Evren won both the Honors Piano Competition and the NEC Chamber Concerto Competition which garnered him an opportunity to play on the Jordan Hall stage with the school’s conductor-less orchestra.  
 
An avid chamber musician, Ozel was selected by Mitsuko Uchida to participate in the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival.  There he performed with Jonathan Biss, Alice Neary, Marcy Rosen and Joseph Lin, among others. Three of his performances at the festival have already been featured in the archived Historic Recordings from Marlboro. In 2019, he participated in ChamberFest Cleveland, featured in their Rising Star program, performing along side artists such as Franklin Cohen, Peter Wiley and Hsin-Yun Huang.  Of his performance of Franck Sonata with Nathan Meltzer, Cleveland Classical wrote “Meltzer and Ozel attended to every contour of the music with care, crafting a longform melodic idea that flowed effortlessly from phrase to phrase and movement to movement.  It was a privilege to witness.”
 
Other chamber experiences include invitations to play with Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and Chamber Music Live! at Queen’s College.  He was also a member of Gruppetto Trio which was selected as a New England Conservatory Honors Ensemble in the 2018/2019 school year.  
 
Other summer festival experiences include the International Mendelssohn Akademie Leipzig in 2018 as a Mendelssohn Fellow, taking masterclasses with Pavel Gililov and Matti Raekallio, and the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival in 2015, where he had masterclasses with Ferenc Rados, Menahem Pressler, and Andras Schiff.  He has also been selected to perform in masterclasses for Richard Goode, Paul Lewis, Mitsuko Uchida, Garrick Ohlssohn, Robert Levin, Hugh Wolff, Lang Lang and others.  
 
In the 2020/2021 season, Ozel appears again with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and performs with NEXUS Chamber Music for Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Series in Tempe, AZ.  Other concerts this season include solo recitals for the Paderewski Festival in Raleigh, NC, the U.S. Chopin Foundation in Miami, FL, and the Gilmore’s Rising Stars Series in Kalamazoo, MI.  
 
Ozel is currently in his senior year at the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA where he has been studying with Wha Kyung Byun since 2014.  He is represented by Concert Artists Guild, as one of the Ambassador Prize winners of their 2021 Victor Elmaleh Virtual Competition.

JUHO POHJONEN
piano

JUHO POHJONEN is regarded as one of today’s most exciting and unique instrumentalists. The Finnish pianist performs widely in Europe, Asia, and North America, collaborating with symphony orchestras and playing in recital and chamber settings.  An ardent exponent of Scandinavian music, Pohjonen’s growing discography offers a showcase of music by Finnish compatriots such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho and Jean Sibelius.
In 2021-2022 Pohjonen performs Daniel Bjarnason’s concerto for piano Processions with the Helsinki Philharmonic with the composer at the podium. Additional orchestral highlights include performances of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Rune Bergmann and the Colorado Symphony as well as performances of Mendelssohn’s concerto for violin, piano and strings, beside Erin Keefe, Maestro Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra. Continuing his long-standing relationship with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Pohjonen performs at Alice Tully Hall on two separate occasions this season in programs featuring works by Stravinksy, Debussy, Shostokovich and Mendelssohn. Additional chamber projects include a performance at Parlance Chamber Concerts with Danbi Um and Paul Huang and Cliburn Concerts with Danbi and Karim Sulayman. Juho will perform recitals in Helsinki and at Vancouver Recital Society.

Last season, Juho performed with the Tampere Philharmonic following his debut with the orchestra in 2017-2018 and also performed Daniel Bjarnason’s Processions with Finland’s Tapiola Sinfonietta.

Following the September 2019 performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota, Pohjonen returned to the orchestra in January 2020 to repeat the program at Indiana University in Bloomington.  Additional highlights included two orchestra debuts: with the New Jersey Symphony performing Grieg, conducted by Markus Stenz; and with the Rochester Philharmonic performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Fabien Gabel. Pohjonen made his Philadelphia recital debut at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and returned to Howland Chamber Music Circle in Beacon, NY with a recital. An alumnus of The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two), Pohjonen enjoys an ongoing association with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with whom he played two performances in New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Chicago’s Harris Theater.
Pohjonen launched MyPianist in 2019, an AI-based iOS app that provides interactive piano accompaniment to musicians everywhere. Designed and programmed by Mr. Pohjonen himself and infused with his keen musical sensibility, MyPianist acts as a “virtual pianist” for musicians looking to hone their skills or learn new material. MyPianist carefully “listens” to the musician’s playing and recreates the piano part in real time, matching the timing and nuances of the live performance. More information at https://mypianist.app.

Pohjonen’s illustrious resume of concerto performances reveals a musician in demand internationally. He has appeared as a soloist with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony & Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, with the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York City, and a large number of additional North American orchestras. This includes the Atlanta Symphony where Pohjonen has performed three times. Pohjonen has collaborated with today’s foremost conductors, including Marin Alsop, Lionel Bringuier, Marek Janowski, Fabien Gabel, Kirill Karabits, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Markus Stenz, and Pinchas Zukerman.

The pianist has previously appeared in recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and in San Francisco, La Jolla, Detroit, Savannah, and Vancouver.  He made his London debut at Wigmore Hall, and has performed recitals throughout Europe including in Antwerp, Hamburg, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw. Festival appearances include Lucerne; Savonlinna Finland; Bergen, Norway; and Mecklenberg-Vorpommern in Germany, as well as the Gilmore Keyboard Festival. With CMS  he has performed significant chamber music repertoire with Escher and Calidore String Quartets in New York, Chicago, and at Wolf Trap, among many other programs. Other highlights of recent seasons include a recital debut at the 92nd Street Y in New York, in which Pohjonen performed a program that featured Scriabin’s Sonata No. 8 and Dichotomie by Salonen. In a review comparing Pohjonen’s performance of the same piece in 2019 to his 2009 performance, the New York Times commented that the Salonen “no longer seemed nearly impossible. You might say he played it like a master.”

Pohjonen’s most recent recording with cellist Inbal Segev features cello sonatas by Chopin and Grieg, and Schumann’s ’Fantasiestücke, hallmarks of the Romantic repertoire. Plateaux, his debut recording on Dacapo Records, featured works by late Scandinavian composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, including the solo piano suite For Piano, and piano concerto Plateaux pour Piano et Orchestre, with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ed Spanjaard. His recital at the Music@Menlo 2010 festival was recorded as part of the Music@Menlo Live series.  Entitled Maps and Legends, the disc includes Mozart’s Sonata in A major, K. 331, Grieg’s Ballade (Op. 24), and Handel’s Suite in B-flat Major.  Pohjonen joins violinist Petteri Iivonen and cellist Samuli Peltonen to form the Sibelius Trio, who released a recording on Yarlung Records in honor of Finland’s 1917 centennial of independence. The album, described by Stereophile as “a gorgeous debut,” included works by Sibelius and Kaija Saariaho.

Pohjonen began his piano studies in 1989 at the Junior Academy of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and subsequently earned a Master’s Degree from Meri Louhos and Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna at the Sibelius Academy in 2008. Pohjonen was selected by Sir Andras Schiff as the winner of the 2009 Klavier Festival Ruhr Scholarship, and has won prizes at international and Finnish competitions.

ISMAIL LUMANOVSKI

The extraordinary clarinetist ISMAIL LUMANOVSKI is a musical force of passion and dynamic virtuosity. Already of international distinction, Lumanovki has launched a major career as a soloist, chamber musician in both classical and cross-over repertoire. His synergistic blend of natural talent and training combines the spirit of folk music with the discipline of classical music.

Lumanovski’s performances throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, South America, and Asia have received critical acclaim. Lumanovski has mesmerized audiences across the globe.Taking the stage in countless venues including; Carnegie Hall (New York), United Nations (New York), Musikverein (Vienna), Luzerner Saal (Luzern), World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) Lufthansa Technik (Hamburg), Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin), National Radio Symphony Hall (Katowice), Emirates Palace (Abu Dhabi), Cemal Resit Rey (Istanbul), Expo Yeosu (Korea), Heydar Aliev Merkezi (Baku), Casa de la Musica (Quito), Berklee Performance Center (Boston) and many more. He is proud to have been the soloist of the Carter Clarinet Concerto for Elliot Carter’s 100th birthday celebration in New York with musicians from the New Juilliard Ensemble and the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra under the legendary musical director maestro Pierre Boulez.

His performances have been widely reviewed. The New York Times reviewed his performance, “the soloist — the brilliant, fearless young clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski — aligned himself with various instrumental contingents of the large ensemble”.

Lumanovski has had the privilege to perform as a soloist with innumerable extraordinary musicians and orchestras including: Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Wursburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonkunstler Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra,The Berklee Middle Eastern Fusion Ensemble.

Among his many awards and honors, the “Golden Ladybug of Popularity” named Lumanovski “Musical Maestro of The Year 2015” in the Republic of Macedonia. He’s also won The Juilliard Clarinet Concerto Competition, International Young Artist Competition in Bulgaria, Arriaga Chamber Music Competition, Andreas Makris Clarinet Competition. In addition the Macedonian Radio Television produced a documentary film for him in 2019.

Born in Bitola, Macedonia, Lumanovski started playing the clarinet at age eight. His United States debut performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto at Interlochen, Michigan was in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree and Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School of Music. He studied with Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima.

Lumanovski is a master improviser and performer of Balkan, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Gypsy music. He leads the NY Gypsy All Stars. This jazz influenced fusion and folk music group exemplifies Lumannovski’s fantastic originality. His sound blends Balkan folk music and western classical music with breathtaking dexterity, musicality and tenacity, lending his style a gratifying complexity. Of his performance with the All-Stars, Lumanovski plays a “blistering series of haunting dance numbers” (Lucid Culture Blog) “infectious and hypnotic” (WNYC), “Eclectic and full of inquisitiveness’ (The Huffington Post). He co-founded both “The Secret Trio” and the “Grneta Ensemble.” Thriving on musical conversation, he’s collaborated with bands like Inspector Gadje Balkan Brass Band and Ljubojna, and with an international set of musicians, including Trilok Gurtu, Marcel Khalife, Keyhan Kahlor, Erkan Ogur, Ibrahim Maalouf, Al Di Meola, Becca Stevens and Michael League.

His albums include NY Gypsy All Stars; “Romantech” and “Dromomania,” The Secret Trio; “Soundscapes” and, “Three of Us.” Grneta Ensemble; “Sea of Reeds”. Ismail Lumanovski and
Ljubojna; “Serbet.” Ismail Lumanovski and Inspector Gadje “Live at Kafana Balkan”.