ANDREW WAN, violin

Andrew Wan is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster.  In 2008, he was named concertmaster of the Orchester Symphonique de Montréal (OSM), making him one of the youngest leaders of a major symphony.

Wan’s discography includes Grammy-nominated and Juno, Felix and Opus award-winning releases on the Analekta, Onyx, Bridge, and Naxos labels with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, New York’s Metropolis Ensemble, Charles Richard-Hamelin and the New Orford String Quartet. In the fall of 2015, he released a live recording of all three Saint-Saëns violin concerti with the OSM and Kent Nagano under the Analekta label to wide critical acclaim. His recent live album of works for violin and orchestra by Bernstein, Moussa and Ginastera with Nagano and the OSM won the 2021 Juno award for Best Classical Recording for Large Ensemble.  Wan enjoys a deep collaborative relationship with Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, silver medalist of the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition, with whom he has recorded all ten Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin which garnered them the 2022 Juno award for Best Classical Recording for Small Ensemble.

Wan graduated from The Juilliard School with Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees and is currently a member of the New Orford String Quartet, Associate Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Artistic Director of the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival and for the 2017-18 season was Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel’Angelo Bergonzi violin, and gratefully acknowledges its loan from the David Sela Collection. He also enjoys the use of an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow from Canimex.

BARRY SHIFFMAN, viola

Artistic director of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival and classical music at Rockport Music, internationally acclaimed violinist and violist Barry Shiffman is well-respected as a musician, educator and administrator. He was co-founder of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and currently serves as both the Associate Dean and Director of Chamber Music at the Glenn Gould School and Dean of the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. During his 17 years with the SLSQ he appeared in over 2,000 concerts in venues around the globe and recorded several critically acclaimed discs under an exclusive contract with EMI Classics. He has also served in numerous roles at the Banff Centre, including Director of Music Programs (2006-2010), Artistic Director of the Centre’s Summer Music Programs (2010-2016) and Executive Director of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, which he continues to direct.

DESMOND HOEBIG, cello

Cellist Desmond Hoebig is professor of cello at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and has a distinguished career as a solo, orchestral and chamber musician. Mr. Hoebig won the first prize at the 1984 Munich International Competition and the grand prizes at both the 1980 Canadian Music Competition and the 1981 CBC Talent Competition. He was also an award winner at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1981. Mr. Hoebig has been a soloist with many prominent orchestras in North America, and as a chamber musician, he was the cellist with the Orford String Quartet, winning a Juno Award for best classical album in 1990. He has also performed for thirty years with the Hoebig-Moroz Trio and in a duo with Andrew Tunis. Mr. Hoebig has taught and performed at festivals throughout North America, including Banff, La Jolla, Marlboro, Music Bridge, Orcas Island, Sarasota, Steamboat Springs, and the AMFS. He has been principal cello with the Cleveland, Houston and Cincinnati orchestras as well.  Raised in Vancouver, he studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School.

KEBRA-SEYOUN CHARLES, double bass

With outstanding virtuosity and the rare ability to communicate their ideas effortlessly to audiences, Kebra is poised to be a leader of their generation.  In line with their upbringing, Kebra-Seyoun is able to give prominence to the dance qualities in all forms of music. Exhibiting their versatility, Kebra-Seyoun has performed alongside esteemed improvisers and composers such as Jon Batiste, at Carnegie Hall, and Tyshawn Sorey, at the New England Conservatory. Kebra-Seyoun was also featured in “Slugs’ Saloon” at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, an interactive installation created by famed jazz musician and composer Jason Moran. Currently, in addition to their solo career, Kebra-Seyoun Charles is a passionate chamber musician. Playing with groups like East Coast Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, Palaver Strings, and the Sphinx Virtuosi afford Kebra the opportunity to showcase their musicianship while still playing within an ensemble. A prime example of this is their tenure on the 2019 Emmy award-winning Broadway production “Hadestown.”

More Artist Videos

Gilles Vonsattel Interview

Andrew Wan performing Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor

Kebra-Seyoun Charles performing Mozart’s Violin Sonata K301

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