KAREN OUZOUNIAN

Sought after for her “radiant” (The New York Times) performances full of “tremendous heart, bringing joy and a captivating sound to the stage” (The Strad), KAREN OUZOUNIAN is a GRAMMY®-nominated cellist and composer who creates music from a deeply personal place.

She has appeared as a soloist in venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and Carnegie Hall, championing a remarkable breadth of music with fierce commitment and emotional power. An omnivorous musical spirit who “powerfully shatters pigeonholes with her artistic partners” (Ravinia Magazine), she has premiered numerous works and collaborated with some of the most singular musicians of our time, including Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens, and Augustin Hadelich.

In the 2026-27 season, Ouzounian appears in recital in New York, Hamburg, Chicago, Toronto, and Los Angeles, and makes her Boston Symphony Orchestra solo debut at the 2026 Tanglewood Festival as soloist in Kayhan Kalhor’s double concerto Venus in the Mirror. As a composer, her recent commissions include works for the Silkroad Ensemble, Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium, and during her 2026 residency at Lighthouse Works, she will be writing a string quartet commissioned by the Aeolus Quartet.

At the heart of Ouzounian’s artistic practice is her love of collaboration and the development of adventurous programs. Her current focus includes a trio of projects created with her husband, composer and animator Lembit Beecher: Mayrig, Dear Mountains, and Tell Me Again. Mayrig (“mother” in Armenian) is an immersive and intimate 65-minute show in which the voices of Karen’s mother and grandmother are interwoven with original arrangements of Armenian music of her family’s ancestral home of Anatolia, songs and stories drawn from their post-genocide home of Lebanon, the music of Charles Aznavour and Marin Marais, and recent works by Beecher, Layale Chaker, Nathalie Joachim, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Ouzounian. In November 2024, Ouzounian premiered Dear Mountains, a 42-minute work co-composed with Beecher for solo cello, oud, percussion, and SATB chorus. Written in nine movements, it juxtaposes stories told and retold in Ouzounian’s family with scenes of music-making across the Armenian diaspora over the last 100 years, as seen through archival recordings and writings. Commissioned by Cantori New York, the Armenian Mirror-Spectator wrote of the work, “Ouzounian and Beecher have pulled off something remarkable.” Beecher’s Tell Me Again is a new cello concerto inspired by the couple’s familial histories of migration, receiving its world premiere with conductor Eric Jacobsen and the Orlando Philharmonic, and its West Coast premiere with conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the 2024 Cabrillo Festival Orchestra.

Since 2016, Ouzounian has been performing around the globe as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, the group founded by Yo-Yo Ma that engages in cross-cultural collaboration and understanding. Recent tours with the Silkroad Ensemble include Sanctuary, Uplifted Voices, American Railroad, Phoenix Rising, and Kinan Azmeh and Kevork Mourad’s Home Within, and have featured Ouzounian’s works Songs of the Sap, Der Zor, and Imagined Anatolian Dance. She has appeared at the Marlboro, Ojai, Ravinia, Caramoor, and IMS Prussia Cove festivals, toured with Musicians from Marlboro, and is a member of the Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights.

Ouzounian holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Timothy Eddy, a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, and is a recipient of the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award. Born to Lebanese-Armenian parents in Toronto, she resides in New York City with her husband, Lembit Beecher.

www.karenouzounian.com
Instagram @karenouzounian

DANE JOHANSEN

DANE JOHANSEN joined The Cleveland Orchestra at the beginning of March 2016. He was formerly the cellist of the Escher String Quartet, and alongside his colleagues, was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist,  a  recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin Segal Award from Lincoln Center. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. Dane made his Lincoln Center debut in a performance of Elliott Carter’s Cello Concerto under the direction of James Levine in celebration of the composer’s centennial. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as first winner of the Juilliard Leo Ruiz Memorial Award and, in 2016 performing William Walton’s Cello Concerto, made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

For many years, Dane has dedicated time and energy exploring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello. He performed them at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in 2010 and also throughout his 580-mile pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain in 2014; the story of his adventure on the Camino with Bach was made into a documentary film called Strangers on the Earth.

A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Dane studied with Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Michel Strauss at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, and with Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, where he earned his artist diploma. He studied with Bernard Greenhouse for the last five years of the legendary cellists life, fostering a connection through him to the legacies of Pablo Casals, Emanuel Feuermann, and the Beaux Arts Trio. 

 

ANNIE JACOBS-PERKINS

Praised for “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment,” (The New Yorker), cellist ANNIE JACOBS-PERKINS  Annie Jacobs-Perkins is the 1st prize winner of the Pierre Fournier Award, Buchet International Cello Competition, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs Emerging Soloist Competition, Father Merlet Award from the Pro Musicis Foundation, New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition.

She is Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center and cellist of Trio Brontë, 1st prize winner of the Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition and Ilmari Hannikainen International Chamber Music Competition, as well as 2nd prize winner of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition. She regularly performs at venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Krzyzowa Music, Ravinia Steans Institute, Yellow Barn Festival, and Marlboro Music.

Annie’s primary teachers include Frans Helmerson, Troels Svane, Laurence Lesser, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Kathleen Murphy Kemp.

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.

The Rising Stars program is generously sponsored by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder.

OLIVER HERBERT

OLIVER HERBERT is a concert cellist with a rapidly growing international presence and a recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant. As soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, and Juanjo Mena. His recital programs are noted for their inventive curation, combining beloved and lesser-known works with equal conviction. A frequent guest at major festivals and venues including Marlboro, Verbier, the Rheingau Festival, and Carnegie Hall, he has performed alongside Mitsuko Uchida, Tabea Zimmermann, and Janine Jansen. A graduate of the Curtis Institute and the Colburn School, Oliver currently studies with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy, supported by the Nanno Lenz patronage.

Oliver Herbert performs on a Guadagnini cello once owned by the legendary Antonio Janigro, generously loaned by the Janigro family.

ZLATOMIR FUNG

The first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division, ZLATOMIR FUNG is poised to become one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 23-year-old has already proven himself to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship 2022 and a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates mastery of the canon and exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire.

In the 2022-2023 season, Fung performs with orchestras and gives recitals in all corners of the world. Orchestral engagements include the BBC and Rochester Philharmonics, Milwaukee, Reading, Lincoln, Ridgefield and Sante Fe Symphonies, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and APEX Ensemble. He gives the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Katherine Balch with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He plays recitals throughout North America with pianists Benjamin Hochman, Dina Vainshtein, and Janice Carissa, including stops in New York City, Chicago, IL, San Diego and Berkeley, CA, Los Alamos, NM, Rockville, MD, Melbourne, FL, Vancouver and Sechelt, BC, Northampton, MA, Province, RI, Burlington, VT, and Waterford, VA. Tours of Europe and Asia include a recital at Wigmore Hall and two performances at Cello Biënnale Amsterdam.

Recent summer festival appearances include Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail with the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Slatkin, ChamberFest Cleveland, Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and Verbier. As a soloist, Fung has appeared with the Detroit, Kansas City, Seattle, Utah, Greensboro, Ann Arbor, and Asheville Symphonies, among many others. Past recital highlights include his Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall debut with pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen and multiple tours throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. As a chamber musician, he has been presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Philharmonic Society of Orange County, IMS Prussia Cove, Syrinx Concerts in Toronto, The Embassy Series & The Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and Salon de Virtuosi and Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York City.

A winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Astral National Auditions, Fung has taken the top prizes at the 2018 Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition, 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, 2014 Stulberg International String Competition, and 2014 Irving Klein International Competition. He was selected as a 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholar for the Arts and was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses.

Of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Zlatomir Fung began playing cello at age three. Fung studied at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Fung has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and has appeared on From the Top six times. In addition to music, he enjoys cinema, reading, and blitz chess.

STERLING ELLIOTT

Cellist STERLING ELLIOTT​ is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division 2019 National Sphinx Competition. He has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony. In his spare time, Sterling enjoys wrenching on cars at his home garage in Virginia.  

Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School studying with Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

STERLING ELLIOTT

Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist STERLING ELLIOTT is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. Already in his young career, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In the 2024/2025 season Sterling Elliott debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony and returns to the Wilmington Symphony. He joins the Madison Symphony for the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Gil and Orli Shaham and returns to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Louis Langree.

As the YCAT–Music Masters Robey Artist he will Tour New Zealand in addition to appearances at Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and others. This season he also begins his tenure as a BBC New Generation Artist with radio appearances and more.

Born into a musical household, Sterling initially wanted to play the violin like his older brother and sister. After a bit of encouragement, he completed The Elliott Family String Quartet, an ensemble that enjoyed personalized arrangements of genres such as bluegrass, gospel, and funk music.

Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim, following completion of his Master of Music and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

Sterling Elliott is generously sponsored by Beth Sersig and Christopher Brandt.

NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS

Hailed by The New Yorker as a “superb young soloist,” NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, captivating audiences throughout the UnitedStates and abroad. In The New York Times his playing was praised as “impassioned … the audience seduced by Mr. Canellakis’s rich, alluring tone.”

Recent concert highlights include concerto appearances with the Virginia, Albany, Delaware, Stamford, Richardson, Lansing, and Bangor Symphonies, the Erie Philharmonic, The Orchestra Now, and the New Haven Symphony as Artist-in-Residence; Europe and Asia tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Shanghai and Taipei National Concert Halls; and recitals across North America with his longtime duo collaborator, pianist-composer Michael Brown. He made his Carnegie Hall concerto debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in 2015.

Mr. Canellakis is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with which he performs regularly in Alice Tully Hall and on tour internationally. He is also a regular guest artist at many of the world’s leading music festivals, including Santa Fe, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Bard, Wolf Trap, Bridgehampton, La Jolla, Hong Kong, Moab, Music in the Vineyards, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center. He has recently been renewed as the artistic director of Chamber Music Sedona, in Arizona, where he has made a major impact through his dynamic programming and educational and community outreach.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory, his teachers included Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley and Paul Katz, and he was a student of Madeleine Golz at Manhattan School of Music Pre-College. He began his Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center career as a member of the Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two), and he has also been in residence at Carnegie Hall as a member of Ensemble Connect.

Filmmaking and acting are special interests of Mr. Canellakis. He has produced, directed, and starred in several short films and music videos, including his popular comedy web series “Conversations with Nick Canellakis.” His latest film, “Thin Walls,” was nominated for awards at many prominent film festivals. His films and videos can be found on his website: nicholascanellakis.com.

JAY CAMPBELL

JAY CAMPBELL is a cellist actively exploring a wide range of creative music. He has been recognized for approaching both old and new music with the same curiosity and commitment, and his performances have been called “electrifying” by the New York Times and “gentle, poignant, and deeply moving” by the Washington Post.

The only musician ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants — in 2016 as a soloist, and again in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet — Jay made his concerto debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2013 and in 2016, he worked with Alan Gilbert as the artistic director for Ligeti Forward, part of the New York Philharmonic Biennale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2017, he was Artist-in-Residence at the Lucerne Festival along with frequent collaborator violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, where he gave the premiere of Luca Francesconi’s cello concerto Das Ding Singt. In 2018 he appeared at the Berlin Philharmonie with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He has recorded the concertos of George Perle and Marc-Andre Dalbavie with the Seattle Symphony, and in 2023/2024 will premiere a new concerto, Reverdecer, by Andreia Pinto-Correia with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Portugal, and in Brazil with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo. In 2022 he returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as curator and cellist for his second Green Umbrella concert, premiering two concertos by Wadada Leo Smith and inti figgis-vizueta.

Jay’s primary artistic interest is the collaboration with living creative musicians and has worked in this capacity with Catherine Lamb, John Luther Adams, Marcos Balter, Tyshawn Sorey, and many others. His close association with John Zorn resulted in two discs of new works for cello, Hen to Pan (2015) and Azoth (2020). Deeply committed as a chamber musician, he is the cellist of the JACK Quartet as well as the Junction Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Conrad Tao, and multidisciplinary collective AMOC.

https://www.jay-campbell.net/home

BRYAN CHENG

Following recent prize-winning successes at some of the world’s most prestigious international competitions, including Queen Elisabeth, Concours de Genève, and Paulo, Canadian-born, Berlin-based cellist BRYAN CHENG has established himself as one of the most compelling young artists on the classical music scene. In the 2024/25 season, he continues his residency with the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra Timisoara in Romania, gives the European premiere of Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto with Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in Finland, and debuts with hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Prague Philharmonia at Mozartfest Würzburg, Orchestre Métropolitain, and Bochumer Symphoniker, among others. Equally indemand as a chamber musician, he graces the stages of Wigmore Hall, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ChamberFest Cleveland, Rockport Music, and Tippet Rise Arts Center for the first time, while returning to the Verbier Festival and Heidelberger Frühling. Bryan has released a trilogy of critically-acclaimed albums on German classical label audite, and his newest recital album Portrait (2023) on Centrediscs, featuring commissioned works and own arrangements by composers of diverse Asian heritage, was nominated for 2 JUNO awards. Bryan received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Universität der Künste Berlin and is now enrolled in the Professional Studies program at Germany’s Kronberg Academy. He plays the 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello generously on loan from the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank.