CELLO MASTERCLASS: Julian Schwarz
Julian Schwarz has been heralded from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the greatest of the 21st century, Julian’s powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style.
After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony, he made his US touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in Hong Kong, he has led an active career as soloist, including concerto appearances with the symphony orchestras of Alabama, Annapolis, Arizona, Boise, Buffalo, California, Charlotte, Columbus, Delaware, Des Moines, Flint, Harrisburg, Hartford, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Modesto, New Mexico, Omaha, Pasadena, Puerto Rico, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, San Jose, Sarasota, Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Virginia, West Virginia, Wichita, and Winston-Salem, among many others. Internationally, he made his Australian debut with the Queensland Symphony, his Mexican debuts with the Boca del Rio Philharmonic in Veracruz and the Mexico City Philharmonic, and his South-American debut in Lima, Peru with the Orquesta Filarmonica Theresa Quesada.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 Schwarz & Bournaki were awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017. Mr. Schwarz is a founding member of the New York based touring ensemble “Frisson” and was recently appointed the newest core member of the Olmos Ensemble in San Antonio, TX. He is a member of the Palladium Chamber Players (St Petersburg FL), the Alaria Ensemble (New York NY), and has given over 100 performances at Brooklyn’s Bargemusic. He has appeared at the chamber music festivals of Cape Cod, Montreal, Orcas Island, Seattle, Verbier, and the Salzburg Mozarteum. In addition, he serves as Artistic Director of Faculty Chamber Music at the Eastern Festival of Music in Greensboro, NC.
Mr. Schwarz is deeply committed to the future of American music, and presented the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s first Cello Concertro (written for him) in spring 2026. Past commissioning projects include concertos by Lowell Liebermann (recorded with the Annapolis Symphony for release in 2027), Richard Danielpour, and Samuel Jones (recorded with the All Star Orchestra for public television in 2012, subsequently released as a DVD on Naxos). Other premieres include recital works by Paul Frucht, Scott Ordway, Jonathan Cziner, Gavin Fraser, Alex Weiser, Ofer Ben-Amots, Michael Ippolito, chamber music by Adolphus Hailstork, Henri Lazarof, Jonathan Newman, Eric Ewazen, Bright Sheng, and the US Premiere of Dobrinka Tabakova’s Cello Concerto. Of special note is Mr. Schwarz’s ongoing commitment to the music of Jewish experience, including projects with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Defiant Requiem Foundation, Central Synagogue, JBS, the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music—for which he has recorded the complete cello/piano works of Ernest Bloch, and a new association with South Florida Public Broadcasting to raise awareness of the history of Jewish chamber music.
As a recording artist, Julian was nominated for a 67th Grammy Award for his collaboration on soprano Fotina Naumenko’s “Bespoke Songs” (New Focus Records). In August 2026, the Delos label released Julian’s complete cello music of Arthur Foote (including the world premiere recording of his Cello Concerto from 1894 with the Buffalo Philharmonic), and the Divine Art label released the world premiere recording of Laszlo Varga’s arrangement of Strauss’ Don Quixote with the Olmos Ensemble. Past projects include the complete Rossini String Quartets for the Leaf label, and an album of Bright Sheng for Naxos. Julian’s recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Cello Concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic and Andreas Delfs is set for release in 2027.
A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Associate Professor of Cello and String Area Coordinator at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University (Winchester, VA), Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Lynn Conservatory (Boca Raton, FL), and on the artist faculty of NYU Steinhardt. In 2023, he was one of the first cellists to record pedagogical tutorials for the online teaching platform Tonebase, including comprehensive examinations of the Elgar Concerto, Piatti Caprices, tone production, and vocal elements in cello playing. As a writer, he has contributed frequently to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog, has written learner’s guides for The Violin Channel, has had a featured article in The Strad, and has edited a series of Ernest Bloch editions with written prefaces for Carl Fischer Publishing. Past faculty appointments include Artist-in-Residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Nova Scotia, Canada) and faculty teaching assistant to Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School.
Born in Seattle, WA in 1991 to a multigenerational musical family, Mr. Schwarz studied at the Academy of Music Northwest and the Lakeside School. He continued to the Colburn School in Los Angeles under Ronald Leonard, and then moved to New York City to study with mentor Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School (BM 14, MM 16). Other influential teachers include David Tonkonogui, Toby Saks, and Lynn Harrell, and chamber music mentors Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, Jonathan Feldman, Toby Appel and Paul Coletti. Julian plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743 and American bows by Paul Martin Siefried. A Pirastro and Melos artist, he endorses and plays the "Perpetual" medium and edition sets of cello strings and Melos light rosin.
Julianschwarz.com
Admission for this masterclass is FREE and all are welcome.


















