Julia Bruskin, Cello

Since her concerto debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age 17, cellist Julia Bruskin has established herself as one of the premiere cellists of her generation. She performed Samuel Barber’s Cello Concerto with conductor Jahja Ling at Avery Fisher Hall and has also been soloist with the Nashville Symphony, Utah Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and Pacific Symphony among others. Her recent CD of music by Beethoven, Brahms, and Dohnanyi was praised by Fanfare Magazine for its “exquisite beauty of sound and expression”. Ms. Bruskin won 1st prize in the Schadt String Competition and was a prizewinner in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria.

A founding member of the critically acclaimed Claremont Trio, Ms. Bruskin won 1st prize in the 2001 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and was awarded the first ever Kalichestein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award. The trio tours extensively, including concerts this year for the Library of Congress, New York’s Lincoln Center and a four concert series featuring Brahms’ trios at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The trio has recorded the complete trios of Mendelssohn and Shostakovich as well as a CD of American trios including works by Leon Kirchner, Ellen Zwilich, Mason Bates and Paul Schoenfield. Bridge Records released the Claremont Trio’s newest recording of the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Beethoven’s Trio Op. 1 No. 1 last year to rave reviews.

Ms. Bruskin plays frequent solo recitals with her husband, Aaron Wunsch, including tours in China and concerts in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas. A frequent guest at summer music festivals, she has performed at La Jolla Summerfest, Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Saratoga, Bard, and Norfolk, and toured with the Musicians from Ravinia. Sought after as a teacher, Ms. Bruskin has given master classes at the Eastman School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, the Conservatory at SUNY Purchase, the Boston Conservatory, Duke University and Middlebury College.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Ms Bruskin began cello lessons at age four. Her teachers have included Timothy Eddy, Joel Krosnick, Andres Diaz, Norman Fischer, and Nancy Hair. She completed the five-year double degree program at Juilliard and Columbia University. Ms. Bruskin currently teaches at the Juilliard Pre-College and is on the cello faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.