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.

JULIE ALBERS

American cellist JULIE ALBERS is recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style and her intense musicianship. She was born into a musical family in Longmont, CO and began violin studies at the age of two switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Richard Aaron. At the age of 17 she made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and thereafter has performed in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout North America, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. Julie has received various awards including the Grand Prize in South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition and Second Prize in Munich’s Internationaler Musikwettbewerbes der ARD. Past seasons have included appearances with the orchestras of Colorado, Indianapolis, Nashville, Saint Paul, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, and Munchener Kammerorchester among others. In addition to solo performances Julie participated in a three year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two and regularly appears at chamber music festivals around the world. Julie has served as principal cello of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra since 2015 and was recently appointed to the cello faculty of the New England Conservatory.

EMAD ZOLFAGHARI

Canadian violist EMAD ZOLFAGHARI came to international attention after winning the first prize and audience prize at the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition. Emad was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at age 16, where he currently studies with Hsin-Yun Huang. Other major competition prizes include winning the Klein, ArsClassica, Morningside Music Bridge, Johansen, Tokyo and the OSM international competitions. He also was awarded Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Career grant in 2024, and was listed as one of CBC Music’s 30 under 30 Hot Classical Musicians.

Solo appearances include the Tokyo Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Métropolitain, National Philharmonic, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony and more.

Emad currently plays on a fine 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola on generous loan from the
Rachel Barton Pine Foundation, and a Eugène Sartory bow from CANIMEX, inc. His studies
are generously supported by a Sylva Gelber Foundation award

JENNIFER STUMM

Violist, director, and speaker JENNIFER STUMM blazes a courageous creative path with diverse projects that mix sheer musical enthusiasm with boundary breaking advocacy for social innovation. Known for the !opal-like beauty” (Washington Post) of her sound, Jennifer appears on the world”s great stages both as solo violist and as artistic director of Ilumina. She is winner of the William Primrose, Geneva and Concert Artist Guild competitions (the first violist ever to win first prize.) The 2023-24 season brings Jennifer’s return as soloist in the large hall of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, a weeklong residency at the Edinburgh Festival, the release of two albums, and appearances on four continents. She will also appear as featured speaker on innovation and social equity at NASA and conferences around the world.

Jennifer is founder and director of Ilumina, the São Paulo-based artist collective, festival, and social equity initiative, which has ascended rapidly to prominence as a modern model for 21st century creativity and the advancement of diverse talent. Ilumina unites leading international artist with the best rising talent from Latin America, with the goal that worthy talent receives an equal chance to shine. Ilumina young artists now study at leading music schools around the world. Jennifer’s flair for curation and stage direction has received much attention, and Ilumina concerts invite listeners to be immersed in dynamic musical worlds, steadfastly committed to interpretation, powered by the freshness and energy of cultural exchange.

An enthusiastic speaker and writer, she recently spoke at NASA about how the arts can help innovate toward a better world, and her viral TEDx talk about the viola and the blessings of being different, !The Imperfect Instrument,” was named an editor’s pick of all TED talks and led to a solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. Jennifer has released two celebrated solo albums. Her debut recording for Naxos’ Laureate Series featured works by Italian composer/violist Alessandro Rolla, hailed as “an absolutely phenomenal display of virtuoso viola playing” (The New Recordings.) She next released her album of Berlioz’s Harold In Italy and performed the work in her unique staging and characterization almost fifty times.

A recipient of the prestigious BBC New Generation artist and Borletti Buitoni Trust awards for her work in chamber music, she appears at major festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Stavanger, Spoleto, Aldeburgh, Delft and IMS Prussia Cove and regularly appears with Spectrum Concerts Berlin.

Jennifer Stumm is Professor of Viola at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. She was International Chair of Viola Studies at the Royal College of Music, London, guest professor at the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague and at the Hochschule für Musik Leipzig. She gives masterclasses around the world. Her students regularly win positions in major orchestras and prizes in leading competitions.

Born in Atlanta, Jennifer first heard the viola when she was eight and, enchanted by its sound, began playing in her school’s orchestra. She studied with Karen Tuttle at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, and later with Nobuko Imai and Steven Isserlis. She also pursued interests in politics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer plays a Gasparo da Salò viola, 1589, generously on loan from a private trust.

SAMUEL ROSENTHAL

Violist SAMUEL ROSENTHAL delights in sharing music with artists and audiences of all ages and is acclaimed for his generous musical spirit and “intimate, personal approach” (Journal of the American Viola Society). He began his musical studies in Cleveland, and his viola studies with Jeffrey Irvine as a member of  the Young Artist Program at CIM. His passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. Since the summer of 2016, Sam has attended the renowned Perlman Music Program and recent summer festivals have also included the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamberfest Cleveland, Musique de Chambre en Normandie, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and Music from Angel Fire.  A prize winner at The Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (Razumovsky String Quartet) and the Johansen International Competition, Sam received the silver medal at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang. Sam is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at Juilliard where he is completing his Masters degree and working with distinguished artist faculty Misha Amory and Hsin-Yun Huang.

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.

MAIYA PAPACH

MAIYA PAPACH is the principal violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A member of the orchestra since 2008, she has made solo appearances with the SPCO in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with concertmaster Steven Copes, solo directed Benjamin Britten’s Lachrymae and as soloist in Woolrich’s Ulysses Awakes. 

Papach has made frequent national and international appearances as a chamber musician, with a versatile profile in her performances of both traditional and contemporary repertoire. She is a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), with whom she has performed frequently at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and dozens of experimental venues. She has toured extensively in the former Soviet Union with the Da Capo Chamber Players, across North America with Musicians from Marlboro, and has made appearances at Prussia Cove (UK), the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, the Chattanooga Chamber Music Festival and Chamber Music Quad Cities. She is also currently a member of Accordo, a Twin Cities-based chamber music group. 

Papach is a 2013 recipient of the McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians administered by the MacPhail Center for Music. Through this fellowship and in collaboration with ICE, she co-commissioned a viola concerto by Anthony Cheung, performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival to critical acclaim by the New York Times. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and her principal teachers include Roland Vamos, Karen Tuttle, Benny Kim and Hsin-Yun Huang. She performs on a 19th century Turinese viola by Annibale Fagnola.

She enjoys spending time with her wife, kids, and furry animals in her free time. 

MILENA PAJARO-VAN de STADT

Praised by Strad magazine as having “lyricism that stood out…a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines,” MILENA PAJARO-VAN de STADT has established herself as one of the most sought-after violists of her generation.  In addition to appearances as soloist with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, theTokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and Symphony in C, she has performed in recitals and chamber-music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, which was described in Strad as being “fleet and energetic…powerful and focused.”  

Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was the founding violist of the twice-Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008-2022. During her time in the group, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Also during her tenure, the Dover Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her numerous awards also include First Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition. While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet “Espressivo!” along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

PAUL NEUBAUER

Violist PAUL NEUBAUER’S exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him “a master musician.” He recently made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti as well as his Mariinsky Orchestra debut at the White Nights Festival. He also gave the U.S. Premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, was released on Signum Records and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki philharmonics; National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower and has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. Mr. Neubauer is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College. 

NATALIE LOUGHRAN

Natalie LoughranTwenty-seven year old American violist NATALIE LOUGHRAN is quickly establishing herself as one of the most versatile young artists of our time. Natalie was awarded First Prize at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, along with the Audience Award, as well as the BIPOC Composer Prize for her arrangement and performance of William Grant Still’s ‘Mother and Child’. She has also appeared as a finalist for the 2020 Young Concert Artist Auditions, and was awarded a special prize for her performance of the Bowen Viola Sonata in C Minor at the Tertis International Viola Competition. Natalie has also been awarded with the William Schuman prize for her outstanding leadership and achievement in music, from the Juilliard School. As the newest violist of the Castalian String Quartet, Natalie has appeared in many internationally renowned chamber music series, including Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall, 92NY, San Francisco Performances, and Dallas Chamber Music Society. The quartet is currently in residence at Oxford University and Wigmore Hall. Additionally, Natalie has performed extensively at Marlboro, Yellow Barn, The Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, and Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World. Natalie has collaborated with renowned chamber musicians such as Mitsuko Uchida, Stephen Hough, Itzhak Perlman, Dénes Várjon, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, and Nobuko Imai. In addition to solo performance and chamber music, Natalie holds a deep love of the orchestral repertoire, and has worked as principal violist under the batons of Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. She has performed with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, under Gábor Takács-Nagy; toured internationally with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, directed by Ivan Fischer; and performed regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. Natalie earned her B.M. and M.M. in Viola Performance at The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Roger Tapping, Misha Amory, where she was a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship. Natalie is continuing her professional studies at the Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann. Natalie plays on a 1976 viola by Sergio Peresson.