Julian Schwarz (born January 18, 1991) is an American cellist of Austrian descent who graduated from

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. Schwarz is currently on the cello faculty of Eastern Music Festival and as of August 2017, the assistant professor of cello at Shenendoah Conservatory. He won the 2013 inaugural Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and the 2016 Boulder International Chamber Music Competition's "The Art of Duo" with pianist Marika Bournaki, to whom he is married.

Background

Schwarz was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

to a musical family, most notably his father, the

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Gerard Schwarz Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947), also known as Gerry Schwarz or Jerry Schwarz, is an American symphony conductor and trumpeter. As of 2019, Schwarz serves as the Artistic and Music Director of Palm Beach Symphony and the Director of Orc ...

, and grandfather, former principal

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

, Sol Greitzer. He is one of ten family members to attend Juilliard. Schwarz began piano lessons at the age of 5 and cello lessons at 6 with the late David Tonkonogui. At 11 years old, he made his orchestral debut with the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

playing Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto No. 1 with his father, Gerard Schwarz, conducting. At 18 years old, Schwarz was featured on the cover of the March/April/May 2009 issue of Teen Strings Magazine. After graduating from the Lakeside School and the Academy of Music Northwest in Seattle, Schwarz attended the

earning his

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree in May 2014. He went on to earn his

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

degree from Juilliard in May 2016. His teacher was

Joel Krosnick Joel Krosnick (3 April 1941 – 15 April 2025) was an American cellist who performed as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the world for over 40 years. As a member of the Juilliard String Quartet from 1974 to 2016, he perfor ...

. Schwarz's past teachers include

Toby Saks Toby Saks (January 8, 1942 – August 1, 2013) was an American cellist, the founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and a member of the New York Philharmonic. Music history Born in New York City to an immigrant family, Saks began music less ...

Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell (January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020) was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras o ...

, Neal Cary, and

Ronald Leonard Ronald Leonard is an American cellist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, principal cellist and teacher. He is currently on the faculties of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn School. He was a winner of ...

Career

Schwarz is active in the music community as a solo cellist, conductor, chamber musician, and pedagogue. He is also an active contributor to the Strings Magazine Artist Blog.

Cello

Schwarz is a cello guest artist with many symphonies across

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

including

Des Moines Symphony The Des Moines Symphony (DMSO) is a United States symphony orchestra based in Des Moines, Iowa. The current conductor is Joseph Giunta. Established in 1937 as the Des Moines Civic Orchestra, it performs both Masterworks and Pops concerts as well ...

, West Virginia Symphony,

San Antonio Symphony The San Antonio Symphony was a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas. Its season ran from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its music director from 2010 to 2020, was the last to ser ...

, and

San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in San Diego, California. The orchestra performs at Jacobs Music Center and the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. It serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera. History On December 6, ...

, as well as across the world including

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

with the

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, the ...

at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival, and Boca del Rio, Mexico with the Boca del Rio Orchestra. Schwarz has gone on extensive tours including a 15-concert, United States tour with the Moscow State Radio Symphony and a 10-city China tour in March 2017 with pianist, Marika Bournaki. Schwarz and Bournaki are also regular performers at

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Bargemusic Bargemusic, formally known as ''Bargemusic, Ltd.'' is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn. Founded in 1977, until 2025 it was housed in a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn ...

. Schwarz performs in festivals across North America and Europe including the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Cape Cod Music Festival, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Schwarz is a faculty member of several festivals and music schools including the cello faculty at Eastern Music Festival, teaching assistant to

at The Juilliard School, and assistant professor of cello at Shenendoah Conservatory. He has been the artist-in-residence at the pianoSonoma Festival since 2012 and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in

Nova Scotia, Canada Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

since 2015. Schwarz was featured in a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

special with the

All-Star Orchestra All-Star Orchestra is an orchestral music project created by Gerard Schwarz, former music director and conductor laureate of Seattle Symphony. It is a television and DVD project, filmed by 18 high definition video cameras without an audience f ...

performing Samuel Jones's cello concerto, which was written specifically for him. The initial broadcast of the program was in October 2013 and it was also later released as a DVD on

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

. Schwarz has also premiered works by many other composers including

Richard Danielpour Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles. Early life Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jew ...

Dobrinka Tabakova Dobrinka Tabakova ( Bulgarian: Добринка Табакова; born 1980, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-British composer. Early life and education Dobrinka Tabakova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to medical physicists Vassilka and Slavi ...

, and

Marlos Nobre Marlos Nobre (February 18, 1939 – December 2, 2024) was a Brazilian composer. He received commissions from numerous institutions, including the Ministry of Culture in Spain, the Free University of Music of São Paulo, the Neuchâtel Chamber O ...

. Schwarz has appeared on radio features across America including

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

From the Top From the Top is an independent nonprofit organization known best for its longstanding NPR radio and PBS television programs with the same name. Co-founded by Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales in 1995, the organization showcases and devel ...

, WXXI in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and Classical King FM 98.1 in Seattle, Washington. Schwarz currently plays a cello made in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743.

Conducting

Schwarz began conducting in a professional capacity in 2007 as the assistant conductor of the Lake Union Civic Orchestra under Christophe Chagnard until 2009. He studied conducting privately with maestro

Jorge Mester Jorge Mester (born April 10, 1935, Mexico City) is a Mexican conductor of Hungarian ancestry. He has served as the artistic director for the Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río, Veracruz, since it was founded in 2014. Biography He studied condu ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Chamber Ensemble

Schwarz is currently a member of the Frisson Ensemble, the Mile-End Trio, and the New York Classical Players and has performed on chamber series including the pianoSonoma Festival, Hammond Performing Arts Series, and Frankly Music Chamber Series.

Awards

Discography

References

External links

*
CM Artists page for Julian Schwarz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Julian Juilliard School alumni American classical cellists American cellists American child classical musicians American people of Austrian descent Musicians from Washington (state) Musicians from Seattle 1991 births Living people American contemporary classical music performers