Kevin Zhu, violin
Paul Neubauer, viola
Sterling Elliott, cello
L.van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) - String Trio in C minor, Op. 9 No. 3
H. Eisler (1898 – 1962) - Präludium und Fuge über B-A-C-H
E. Dohnányi (1877 – 1960) - Serenade in C major, Op. 10
American violinist Kevin Zhu is an artist in constant evolution. Searching for stories through sound, Kevin believes that music is a powerful catalyst for communication between past and present. Spontaneity, a sharp eye for detail, and peerless mastery of the instrument de fine his musicianship and embolden his unrelenting pursuit of new interpretation.
Kevin first came to international attention with early successes at the Yehudi Menuhin and Paganini Competitions. His young career has since taken him to renowned concert halls across the globe, ranging from the Konzerthaus Berlin to the Esplanade in Singapore, London’s Royal Festival Hall to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, and Bozar Brussels to The Kennedy Center.
Favorite performing memories include concerts on Paganini’s famed violin ‘Il Cannone’, invitations to the Moritzburg Festival in Germany in consecutive years (including one edition where he was asked to step in on short notice—twice—in the span of a week), and a performance of Kreisler’s Liebesfreud for the pandemic-era Musical Storefronts series in New York City which moved children to dance upon hearing the music.
Kevin studied with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at The Juilliard School, where he holds a Bachelor’s degree. Kevin performs on the c1700 “ex-Petri” Antonio Stradivari violin, on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
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.
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. He has appeared with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In the 2024/2025 season Sterling Elliott debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Des Moines 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 Artists with the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust he will tour New Zealand in addion to appearances at Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. This season he also begins his tenure as a BBC New Generation Artist, and a three-year residency in the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center appearing with CMLSC at Alice Tully Hall and on tour throughout the U.S. Sterling has a long history with the Sphinx Organizatition where he won the 2014 Junior Division Competition, becoming the first alumnus from the Sphinx Performance Academy to win the Sphinx Competition. Last season, Sterling received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organizatition.
Sterling is pursuing an Arst Diploma at the Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim. He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America, a string sponsorship operated by Shar Music. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F . Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organizaon.