JONATHAN SWENSEN

Cellist JONATHAN SWENSEN is the recipient of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant and was recently awarded joint First Prize at the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition.  Previously he has been featured as both Musical America’s ‘New Artist of the Month’ and ‘One to Watch’ in Gramophone Magazine.  Jonathan first fell in love with the cello upon hearing the Elgar Concerto at the age of six, and ultimately made his concerto debut performing that very piece with Portugal’s Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música.

The release of Jonathan’s debut recording ‘Fantasia’, on Champs Hill Records, an album of works for solo cello, including Bent Sørensen’s ‘Farewell Fantasia’, composed for and dedicated to Jonathan and which he premiered in 2021. The album received rave reviews on its release, including from Gramophone, BBC Music, The Strad and Musical America which printed “Swensen proves to be not just a bold programmer, but a mature artist with a bold rounded sound and the emotional chops to back it up.”

Solo appearances with orchestras have included the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra under Douglas Boyd, the New England Conservatory Philharmonia and Hugh Wolff, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the NFM Leopoldinum in a play-direct program, Mobile Symphony, and the Greenville Symphony.  During the 2024-25 season Jonathan will make his debut with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, returns to the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.

He has made critically acclaimed recital debuts at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, with additional performances in Boston’s Jordan Hall, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Casals Festival, and the Krannert Center.   In addition to his many solo appearances, Jonathan is a frequent performer of chamber music in the U.S. and Europe, appearing at the Tivoli Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, Chamberfest Cleveland, Krzyżowa-Music, Vancouver Recital Society, San Francisco Performances, La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, and Newport Classical.

In 2024, Jonathan joined the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center where he performs  at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Studio, and on tour throughout the United States.  He captured First Prizes at the 2019 Windsor International String Competition, 2018 Khachaturian International Cello Competition, and the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.  A graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Jonathan continued his studies with Torleif Thedéen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory, where he received his Artist Diploma in May 2023. Jonathan is an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium working with Gary Hoffman.

Jonathan Swensen is the 2025 John P. Murphy Foundation Visiting Artist.

RAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN

Cellist RAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN enjoys performing solo and chamber music, old and new, around the world. For two decades, as a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and the Daedalus Quartet, he toured extensively through North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records, including the complete piano trios of Robert Schumann and the complete string quartets of Fred Lerdahl. Mr. Ramakrishnan is currently an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, and is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

As a recitalist, Mr. Ramakrishnan has performed in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and has presented the complete Beethoven Sonatas in a tour across India. He has performed chamber music at Bargemusic, at Caramoor, with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Bard, Charlottesville, Four Seasons, Kingston, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, Portland, Skaneateles, and Vail Music Festivals.  He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed as guest principal cellist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and as soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt.  He has served on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall, Norfolk, and Taconic Chamber Music Festivals, as well as in the Music Performance Program of Columbia University.

Mr. Ramakrishnan was born in Athens, Ohio and grew up in East Patchogue, New York.  His father is a molecular biologist and his mother is the children’s book author and illustrator Vera Rosenberry.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in music from The Juilliard School.  His principal teachers have been Fred Sherry, Andrés Díaz, and André Emelianoff.  He lives in Rhinebeck, NY with his wife, the violist Melissa Reardon, and their son.  He plays a Neapolitan cello made by Vincenzo Jorio in 1837.

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 an acclaimed cellist and composer who creates music from a deeply personal place and has appeared as a soloist in venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie and Carnegie Hall. In the 2026-27 season she appears in recital in New York, Hamburg, Toronto and Los Angeles, and at the 2026 Tanglewood Festival makes her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut as soloist in Kayhan Kalhor’s double concerto Venus in the Mirror. She has collaborated with some of the most singular musicians of our time, including Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens and Augustin Hadelich, performs as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, and was the founding cellist of the Aizuri Quartet for eleven years, earning a GRAMMY nomination and major chamber music prizes on three continents.

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.