Young Musicians

Saturday, November 2, 2024 – 10 am

Ohio State University- Timashev Recital Hall
Timashev Family Music Building
1900 College Rd
Columbus, OH 43210

Maxim Lando

21-year old American pianist Maxim Lando has been described as a “dazzling fire-eater” (ARTS San Francisco) and as “a total musical being” (The New Criterion).  He was lauded by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times as displaying “brilliance and infectious exuberance” combined with “impressive delicacy” and a “wild-eyed danger.”  

Maxim first madeinternational headlines performing together with Lang Lang, Chick Corea, and The Philadelphia Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall’s 2017 Opening Night Gala. Since then, he has performed with major orchestras around the world including Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and many others.

A recipient of the Gilmore Young Artist Award and named Musical America‘s New Artist of the Month, Maxim was also awarded the 2022 Vendome Grand Prize. That same year, he won First Prize in the New York Franz Liszt International Competition and returned to Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium to perform with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Gabor Hollerung. He made his Alice Tully Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra led by Xian Zhang as winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition in 2021. Maxim’s burgeoning career was fully launched after winning First Prize at the Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions at the age of 16. His following sold-out recital debuts at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater included Liszt’s complete Transcendental Etudes and were hailed by the New York Times as a concert “You Won’t Want To Miss!”

Maxim partners frequently with violinist Daniel Hope, and is passionate about chamber music and unusual repertoire. He has collaborated with Lynn Harrell, Julian Rachlin, and the Danish String Quartet among others, and plays regularly with Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York City. Together with his German friend and violinist Tassilo Probst, his album Into Madness, recorded by Bavarian Radio on Berlin Classics, was awarded a 2023 International Classical Music Award (ICMA) as best chamber music recording of the year. It also received a double nomination for Opus Classic, and the duo was honored at the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland.

A frequent Guest Artist on the music festival scene, recent appearances have included The Gilmore, Aspen, Caramoor, Dresden Music Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Stars and Rising Stars Munich, Musical Olympus International Festival in Russia, Vilnius Piano Festival, Gower Festival in Wales, and Lednice-Valtice Music Festival in Czech Republic. Recital highlights include performances at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Carnegie Hall Presents, Symphony Hall in Shenzhen, Chicago’s Millennium Park, Lied Center of Kansas, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, GRAMMY Salute to Classical Music, and University of Georgia Athens Presents. He was invited by Lang Lang to perform for the historic opening of Steinway and Sons in Beijing, and performed Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto for an outdoor audience of 50,000 people with Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison, Wisconsin.  

Dedicated to making classical music accessible to his own generation, Maxim has been featured on CNN’s Best of Quest, NPR, BBC Radio, WQXR, Bavarian Radio, Israel’s “Intermezzo with Arik”, and Russia’s TV Kultura.

Earlier awards that greatly impacted Maxim’s musical life with support and opportunities include Gold Prize at the 16th International Television Competition “The Nutcracker” in Moscow, and Second Place at the 2015 Kissingen Piano Olympics in Germany. He has also received an Audience Award along with continued support from the Musical Olympus Foundation, and was selected as the Laureate of Artemisia Foundation since 2019. Maxim is a proud alumnus of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and studies with long-time mentor Hung- Kuan Chen at The Juilliard School.

Thursday, January 30, 2025 – 6 pm

Ohio Theater- Room 4
55 E State Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Sterling Elliot

Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. Already in his young career, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, with noted conductors Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Thomas Wilkins, Jeffrey Kahane, Mei Ann Chen and others.

This season, Elliott debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Pacific Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and New Jersey Symphony. He also performs the world premiere of a new orchestral version of John Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria, commissioned for him by a consortium of orchestras including the Orlando Philharmonic and music director Eric Jacobsen. He makes his UK recital debut at Wigmore Hall in February.

The 2022-2023 season saw his debuts at the Aspen Music Festival, performing the Brahms Double Concerto with Gil Shaham, as well as with the Colorado Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and Ft. Worth Symphony, among others. He appeared in recital under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, Shriver Hall in Baltimore, the Tippett Rise Festival and Capitol Region Classical in Albany, NY.

Fast becoming a favorite on the summer festival circuit, Sterling has appeared at Music@Menlo, Chamberfest in Cleveland and Chamberfest Northwest in Calgary, Music at Angel Fire and the La Jolla Music Society. In Summer 2023, he made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony; performed chamber music with Nicola Benedetti, Stefan Jackiw and others at the Edinburgh Festival; and made a return appearance at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Sterling Elliott participates in several programs alongside exceptionally talented young artists. In April 2023, he was selected by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its Bowers Program, a three-year residency. As a Bowers Program artist, he will perform in CMS tours nationally, and play subscription concerts at Alice Tully Hall. In June 2023, the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust named him their YCAT–Music Masters Robey Artist, a two-year program during which YCAT will provide UK booking and management and Sterling will fulfill an ambassadorial role, leading workshops and engaging with young learners in schools across London to inspire and enhance their musical education. In Spring 2022, Sterling participated in Performance Today’s Young Artist Residency, which featured educational events, interviews and a feature on the nationally syndicated radio program.

Sterling has a long history with the Sphinx Organization where he won the 2014 Junior Division Competition, becoming the first alumnus from the Sphinx Performance Academy to win the Sphinx Competition. The following year he went on to tour with the Sphinx Virtuosi before being awarded the Organization’s Isaac Stern Award in 2016. This season, Sterling will receive a Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization, awarded to artists who, early in their career, demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and an ongoing commitment to leadership and their communities.

Born into a musical household, Sterling initially wanted to play the violin like his older brother and sister. After a bit of encouragement, he completed The Elliott Family String Quartet, an ensemble that enjoyed personalized arrangements of genres such as bluegrass, gospel, and funk music.

Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim, following completion of his Master of Music and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America, a string sponsorship operated by Shar Music. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

Thursday, May 15, 2025 – 6 pm

Ohio Theater- Room 1
55 E State Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Aubree Oliverson

raised for her evocative lyricism and joyful, genuine approach, young American violinist Aubree Oliverson is proving to be one of the most compelling artists of her generation, distinguishing herself with clear, honest, and colourful performances, which have been described as “powerful… brimming with confidence and joy” by the (Miami New Times).

Acclaimed as a “masterful” soloist (San Diego Story), Aubree’s most recent solo appearances in 2023 include season openings of the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall (di Vittorio), Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall (Morlot), Peace Orchestra Project (Mengoli), and Ridgefield Symphony with a pairing of the Barber and Esmail violin concertos. Other season highlights include performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Teychenné), Columbus Symphony (Miller), Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra (Hoving), North Carolina Symphony (Prieto), Pacific Symphony (St. Clair), Des Moines Symphony (St. Clair), Amarillo Symphony (Jackson), Moldavian Philharmonic (Macek), Excelentia Madrid (Braunstein), Slovak Sinfonietta (Foron), Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra (Sachedina), New Haven Symphony (So), Puerto Rico Symphony (Valdés), and the Kontrapunktus Baroque Ensemble; in works by Brahms, Dvorak, Barber, Bruch, Korngold, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Weinberg, Haydn, Saint-Saens, Esmail, and Bach.

Passionate about and at ease with all periods of classical repertoire, Ms. Oliverson is committed both to performing the beloved standard works for as many people as possible, as well as bringing lesser-known pieces into their rightful spotlight: “I play music that speaks to me regardless of how often it’s already being played, rediscovering lost masterpieces and composers who deserve more attention, paired with my own fresh take on the classics. It’s my hope that if I love a piece, someone in the audience will too.” Among the works she has championed over the years are the Pergolesi Bb Major concerto, Julius Conus concerto (1896), Weinberg concertino (1948), Reena Esmail “The Blue Room” concerto (2007), Salvatore di Vittorio “Voyages of Aeneas” concerto (2022), and more, alongside her favorite standard repertoire. 

A dynamic recitalist and sensitive chamber musician, Aubree recently toured Europe with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Clive Greensmith, and Tatjana Masurenko and collaborates this season with Anne Akiko Meyers and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County in duo works of Bach, Philip Glass, and Handel-Halvorsen. Other engagements include festivals such as the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival with Gil Shaham, the Rome Chamber Music Festival, Oropa Music Festival, Moab Music Festival, ChamberFest West, and recitals at the Grand Teton Music Festival and SOKA Performing Arts Center, among many others. Ms. Oliverson has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Robert McDuffie in Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival, Gil Shaham on tour in Mexico, Renaud Capuçon in France, Joseph Silverstein in Salt Lake City, and Lynn Harrell, Orli Shaham, Robert Chen, and Andrew Marriner in Los Angeles.

Ms. Oliverson has been dedicated to reaching a broader audience and the importance of music education from a young age, and she has travelled to over 100 schools throughout the Western United States and spoken at national education conventions, encouraging thousands of children to work hard and participate in music. Recently, Aubree presented digital master classes for organizations including the Orchestra of the Americas, Music to Save Humanity, and Kontrapunktus Baroque, and she participated in a masterclass and side-by-side performance with the Esperanza Azteca Youth Orchestra in Mexico.

Aubree won the ‘Special Prize of Merit’ for violin at the prestigious Verbier Festival Academy, the Aspen Music Festival Dorothy Delay competition, a National YoungArts Foundation award, was honoured as a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and most recently named the 2023 Francis Rosen Prize recipient at the Colburn Conservatory, where she also obtained her Bachelor’s Degree and Artist Diploma. A former student of Debbie Moench, Eugene Watanabe, Danielle Belen, and Boris Kuschnir at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, Aubree graduated from the Colburn Music Academy in 2016 and from the Colburn Conservatory in 2023, studying with the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair, Mr. Robert Lipsett, for nine years.

Aubree plays a very fine Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, kindly loaned to her by Irene R. Miller through the Beare’s International Violin Society, and a Jean “Grand” Adam bow on loan from the Metzler Violin Shop.