Performer Biographies

Praised by The New York Times for his “electrifying performances” which “conveyed every nuance,” American cellist Jay Campbell has already forged a reputation as a spellbinding artist. Armed with a diverse spectrum of repertoire and eclectic musical interests, he has been recognized for approaching both old and new works with the same probing curiosity and emotional commitment. Having collaborated with musicians ranging from Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, David Lang, and John Zorn to members of Radiohead and Einstürzende Neubauten, Mr. Fisher Career Grants—in 2016 as a soloist and again in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet.

In 2017, Jay Campbell was named artiste étoile (artist-in-residence) of the Lucerne Festival, the youngest artist ever to have achieved that distinction. While there, he had roles in both programming and performing. The year prior saw his highly successful “debut” as artistic director of Ligeti Forward for the New York Philharmonic’s 2016 BIENNIAL; the success of this project underscored his outstanding contributions as both curator and performer. Working closely with Alan Gilbert, he created a three-concert series exploring Hungarian composer György Ligeti as a major fountainhead of modern music; these programs spotlighted the well-known piano, violin, and cello concertos, along with works by Ligeti’s students. In addition to putting his exceptional musical knowledge to work, he was also a featured soloist on the second program performing Ligeti’s Cello Concerto (1966).

Recipient of awards from the BMI and ASCAP foundations, Jay Campbell was also First Prize winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild auditions, and Second Prize winner of the 2015 Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition, competing against more than a hundred cellists worldwide. He holds an Artist Diploma, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Fred Sherry.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Campbell is a member of the JACK Quartet, and the Junction Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Conrad Tao. Other collaborators include members of the Arditti, Takács, Kronos, and Afiara String

Born in Berkeley, California, he began playing the cello at the age of eight at the Crowden School in Berkeley. He holds an Artist Diploma, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School where he was a student of Fred Sherry.

Mr. Campbell plays on a cello crafted in the 1750s by Italian luthier Paolo Antonio Testore of Milan.

Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master” (New York Times). Hanick has recently been presented by The Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with the Seattle Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. A fierce advocate for the music of today, Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers ranging from Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Matthew Aucoin, and Christopher Cerrone.

In the 2022–23 season, Hanick premiered a new piano concerto by composer Samuel Carl Adams with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; appears with soprano Julia Bullock at the Aix en Provence Festival in Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi; and performs recitals at the Library of Congress, Hancher Auditorium, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, the 92nd Street Y, and elsewhere. With the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), Hanick served as an artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022. He is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of the Peabody Institute and The Juilliard School.

Since 2014 Hanick has been a faculty artist at the Music Academy of the West and in 2018 became the director of its Solo Piano Program. He has given lectures and masterclasses in Asia, Europe, and throughout the US, including Northwestern University, the New England Conservatory, UCLA, The University of Washington, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Iowa. He is a member of the piano and chamber music faculty of The Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute of Music. A Yamaha Artist, Hanick is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Juilliard School, and lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, son, and Westies.