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.”
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 at the Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Bridge Records released the Claremont Trio’s 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 has performed with artists including Robert McDonald, Miriam Fried, David Schifrin, Robert McDuffie, Orli Shaham and Anthony McGill. She plays frequent solo recitals with her husband, Aaron Wunsch, including both national and international tours. The two are in their seventh season as joint artistic directors of the Skaneateles Festival in the Finger Lakes region of New York, presenting artists such as Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn and the Dover, Miro and Catalyst Quartets. A frequent guest at summer music festivals, Ms. Bruskin has performed at La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Saratoga, Bard, and Norfolk, and toured with the Musicians from Ravinia. Ms. Bruskin has taught at the Juilliard Pre-College and 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 has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2014, where she also helps to curate the orchestra’s chamber music series at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and serves on the orchestra’s Artistic Advisory Committee.
