Praised by the La Jolla Light for her “warmth” and “musical integrity”, 25 year old Korean-American cellist Julia-Hyunji Lee is passionate about creating authentic connections and relationships through her love of music. She is a prize winner of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, recipient of the Mary Alice Cox Award, first prize at the FFMC competition, and finalist of the Barbash J.S. Bach International Competition. As a soloist she has performed with the Ocala Symphony, Alachua County Symphony, and University of Florida Chamber Orchestra. Julia has been presented in performances by the Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Montage Music Society, Santa Fe College of Fine Arts, Core Memory Chamber Music, Dame Myre Hess Series, and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Deeply enthusiastic about collaboration, Julia has had the pleasure of performing alongside renowned artists such as Clive Greensmith, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bion Tsang, Catherine Cho, Ara Gregorian, Robert McDonald, Inon Barnatan, Blake Pouliot, Merry Peckham, and Molly Carr across various international stages.
Julia received a Bachelor of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins and a Master of Music at Juilliard where she studied with the late Joel Krosnick under a C.V Starr Scholarship. She also studied baroque cello performance with Robert Mealy during her time at Juilliard. She is extremely grateful for her previous mentors, Wendy Warner and Chungsun Kim. In her free time, Julia enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with her cat, Clover.

Whether dreaming up community-driven experiences, performing on the piano, or teaching, Andrew Barnwell is almost always working at one keyboard or another. Andrew utilizes daring conversation and profound self-reflection to forge lasting and durable connections within arts and Jewish spaces. Onstage, Andrew finds chamber music especially invigorating and has collaborated with Timothy Chooi, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Marcus Thompson, and Yvonne Lam, among others. Andrew was a founding member of Trio Gaia, New England Conservatory’s most recent Trio-in-Residence and prizewinners in the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition, Premio Trio di Trieste International Music Competition, Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, and the Plowman National Chamber Music Competition. Appearances with the trio included concerts at Jordan Hall, the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Harvard Musical Association, and the Davidson College Concert Series.

Born in Massachusetts, he began his piano studies with Heather Rogers Riley before relocating with his family to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he studied with Søren Pedersen. Andrew attended high school in Seattle, Washington, and was first a student of Mark Salman before joining the studio of Dainius Vaičekonis, and later, renowned pedagogue Robin McCabe. Andrew has earned a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory, where his teachers were Victor Rosenbaum and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein. When devoid of to-dos, Andrew can usually be found searching street-by-street for the best bakeries and consignment stores—recommendations are gladly accepted!