Season Schedule

Featured musicians bios

Joshua Roman has earned an international reputation for his wide-ranging repertoire, a commitment to communicating the essence of music in visionary ways, artistic leadership and versatility. As well as being a celebrated performer, he is recognized as an accomplished composer and curator, and was named a TED Senior Fellow in 2015.

Recent highlights include making his Detroit Symphony Orchestra debut, performing his own Cello Concerto, Awakening, with the Princeton Symphony in collaboration with conductor Teddy Abrams, and performances of Tornado with the JACK Quartet with San Francisco Performances, Town Hall Seattle, Interlochen and numerous presenters throughout the country. He also gave his debut at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, comprised of not only performances with high caliber musicians from the St. Lawrence String Quartet and other corners of the chamber music world, but a performance of his solo piece Riding Light. In Europe, Roman recently performed one of his favorite 20th Century Cello Concertos, that of Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, with the Szczecin Philharmonic of Poland.

In 2017 Joshua Roman premiered his composition Tornado, a new work commissioned by the Music Academy of the West and Town Hall Seattle. The lauded premiere took place with the JACK Quartet at the Music Academy of the West in June of 2017. Joshua Roman also gave the “world-class world premiere” (Seattle Times) of Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto with the Seattle Symphony in 2014. The concerto is dedicated to the cellist who has also performed it with the Portland, Berkeley, Spokane, and Memphis Symphonies. At TED2017 in Vancouver, Roman opened the conference during its first-ever live simulcast to movie theaters around the world with a collaborative music and dance piece created and danced by Huang Yi, with the industrial robot KUKA as dance partner, followed by an original composition to kickstart the first session of speakers. In November of 2016, Roman’s musical response to the tension around the U.S. Presidential election – “Let’s Take A Breath” – brought almost one million live viewers to TED’s Facebook page to hear his performance the complete Six Suites for Solo Cello by J.S. Bach.

Before embarking on a solo career, Roman spent two seasons as principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony, a position he won in 2006 at the age of 22. Since that time he has appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Moscow State Symphony and Mariinsky Orchestra, among many others. An active chamber musician, Roman has collaborated with Cho-Liang Lin, Assad Brothers, Christian Zacharias, Yo-Yo Ma, the JACK Quartet, the Enso String Quartet and Talea Ensemble. His YouTube series (youtube.com/joshuaromancello), “Everyday Bach,” features Roman performing Bach’s cello suites from beautiful settings around the world. He was the only guest artist invited to play an unaccompanied solo during the YouTube Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 debut concert at Carnegie Hall, and has given a solo performance on the TED2015 main stage. Roman is grateful for the loan of an 1899 cello by Giulio Degani of Venice.

Universally recognized among today’s top performing artists, Vadim Gluzman brings to life the glorious violinistic tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries. Gluzman’s wide repertoire embraces new music and his performances are heard around the world through live broadcasts and a striking catalogue of award-winning recordings exclusively for the BIS label.

The Israeli violinist appears regularly with major orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw. He collaborates with leading conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Tugan Sokhiev, Sir Andrew Davis, Neeme Järvi, Michael Tilson Thomas, Semyon Bychkov, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Paavo Järvi, and Hannu Lintu. Festival appearances include performances at Lockenhaus, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Verbier, and the North Shore Chamber Music Festival in Chicago, founded by Gluzman and pianist Angela Yoffe, his wife and recital partner.

Highlights of his 2019-20 season include performances with Orchestre de Paris under Tugan Sokhiev and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, concerts with the BBC Philharmonic, Detroit and Houston Symphony Orchestras, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Lucerne Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar, and Orchestre National de Lyon. He will lead the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, where he serves as Creative Partner and Principal Guest Artist.

This season Gluzman gives the world premieres of a new violin concerto by Erkki-Sven Tüür with the HR Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Andris Poga, Joshua Roman’s Double Concerto with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Danzmayr, Moritz Eggert’s “Mir mit Dir” at the Kronberg Academy Festival, as well as UK premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Triple Concerto with BBC Philharmonic under Omer Meir Wellber. He has given live and recorded premieres of other works by Sofia Gubaidulina, as well as Giya Kancheli, Elena Firsova, Pēteris Vasks, Michael Daugherty, and most recently Lera Auerbach.

Accolades for his extensive discography include the Diapason d’Or of the Year, Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice, Classica magazine’s Choc de Classica award, and Disc of the Month by The Strad, BBC Music Magazine, ClassicFM, and others.

Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Gluzman performs on the legendary 1690 ‘ex-Leopold Auer’ Stradivari on extended loan to him through the generosity of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.