Biography
Julian Schwarz
Born in Seattle into a musical family, twenty-one year old cellist Julian Schwarz is already being recognized as a cellist destined to rank among the finest of the 21st century.
Mr. Schwarz made his orchestral debut at the age of 11 playing the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1 with the Seattle Symphony with his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with many of the Seattle area orchestras and in the winter of 2010 was one of the featured soloists on an extensive US tour with the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra, performing 13 concerts on the East and West coasts.
Recent and upcoming performance highlights include concerto appearances with the Seattle, San Diego, Puerto Rico, Columbus (OH), Syracuse, Virginia, Hartford, Sarasota, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Springfield MA and Greensboro NC symphonies as well as with the NW Sinfonietta and recitals at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and in Palm Springs.
In the spring of 2013, Julian Schwarz will be a featured soloist with the newly formed All Star Orchestra playing the Samuel Jones Cello Concerto on a nationally broadcast program for public television. The All Star Orchestra is comprised of American orchestral musicians from all over the country and will tape eight programs in August 2012, all of which will be broadcast on public television and then issued on DVD's by Naxos. Mr. Schwarz's previous recordings for Naxos include "In Memoriam" by Gerard Schwarz for the Music of Remembrance series and the Saint-Saens No. 1 and Haydn C Major cello concertos with the Seattle Symphony.
Julian Schwarz has performed as a chamber musician at the Aspen, Interlochen, Eastern, California Summer and Encore music festivals. In summer 2009 he was the "Featured Young Artist" at both the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and the Cape Cod Music Festival and attended and performed at the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He performed the Brahms Double at the Eastern Music Festival and the Bellingham Festival of Music in summer 2011 and returns to the Eastern Music Festival and Cape Cod Music Festival for chamber music performances in summer 2012.
In both 2007 and 2008 Mr. Schwarz won the highly regarded Northwest Sinfonietta Youth Concerto Competition. The resulting performances as soloist with Music Director Christophe Chagnard led to his appointment as assistant conductor under Chagnard with Seattle's Lake Union Civic Orchestra.
Julian Schwarz started piano lessons at the age of five and began his cello studies the following year with the late David Tonkonogui; subsequent teachers include Toby Saks, Lynn Harrell, Neal Cary and Ronald Leonard. He currently attends The Juilliard School in New York City where he studies with Joel Krosnick.