Hailed by The Washington Post as “Sweetly Lyrical,” violinist Ariel Horowitz enjoys an active concert schedule playing staples alongside works by lesser-known composers from backgrounds historically underrepresented in classical music. She has performed as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Santa Fe ProMusica Orchestra and, in recent seasons, she premiered two of her original pieces for violin and voice at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall and the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Ariel is a prizewinner of the Grumiaux, Stulberg, and Klein International Competitions as well as the Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant. In 2020, Ariel won the Concert Artists Guild Ambassador Prize and joined the CAG roster. Ariel is also the Founder and Artistic Director of The Heartbeat Music Project, a tuition-free program providing instruments, music, and Navajo (Diné) cultural knowledge to K-12 children living in the Navajo Nation.

At home in a variety of musical genres and disciplines including improvisation, Ariel has performed with acclaimed artist-activists Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey In The Rock, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, Holly Near, and Pete Seeger. In 2021, Ariel and her CAG colleague Britton-René Collins founded their ensemble Vision Duo, centering classical works with a contemporary twist. The duo performs improvised, multi genre works alongside classics of the canon and contemporary classical music, all the while striving to break down barriers of access in classical music structures such as concert halls and conservatories.

When she is not making music, Ariel enjoys cooking, practicing yoga, and painting.

Described as “simply phenomenal” (New Britain Herald), Romanian-Hungarian pianist Alexa Stier has performed extensively in the United States and across Europe. She appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (UK), Kelvin Ensemble (UK), “Dinu Lipatti” Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), Transylvania State Orchestra (Romania) and New Britain Symphony Orchestra (USA). Alexa has received first prizes in many international competitions, such as the Sheepdrove Piano Competition (UK) and the Virtuoso & Belcanto Concerto Competition (Italy). Alexa was the recipient of the “Maurice Ohana” Special Prize at the Orléans International Piano Competition (France). Her most notable appearances include performing recitals during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Newbury Spring Festival (UK), Extensity Concert Series (NYC), Glasgow City Halls, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (UK), Vaidilos Theater (Lithuania), and Teatro del Sale (Firenze, Italy). In 2021, she was a fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Alexa earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she studied with Prof. Fali Pavri. She completed her Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music, where she is currently a candidate of the Doctorate of Musical Arts Program, studying with Prof. Boris Berman and Prof. Wei-Yi Yang.