Canadian cellist Joan Herget currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Peter Wiley and Gary Hoffman. She obtained a bachelor’s degree as a Presidential Distinction Award student of Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory. In 2022, she was awarded first place in NEC’s Lower Strings Concerto Competition and performed the Barber Cello Concerto as soloist with the NEC Philharmonia. Joan is also the winner of the CDA Young Artist Competition, Frank Simpson Concerto Competition, and two-time winner of the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition. Chamber music brings Joan profound happiness and fulfillment. She has been privileged to receive guidance from the Emerson, Brentano, Belcea, Juilliard, Borromeo, and Dover quartets, as well as from Itzhak Perlman, Shmuel Ashkenasi, and Hsin-Yun Huang. Joan has attended the YellowBarn Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Perlman Music Program: Chamber Music Workshop, the Heifetz Institute: Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar, and Morningside Music Bridge. She attended the IMS Prussia Cove masterclass series and Open Chamber Music Festival in Cornwall.

Joseph Liccardo is an accomplished pianist active as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator. Praised for his “clarity and taste” (Wall Street Journal) and “elastic phrasing” (Boston Globe), he has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Jordan Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, Bargemusic, and Union College. Internationally, he has performed, taught, and lectured across China and Hong Kong. His performances have aired on WQXR New York and WFMT Chicago. A passionate chamber musician, Joseph was an alumnus of the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival from 2013–2016, performing a range of repertoire from classical to contemporary. Since 2017, he has served as a collaborative pianist at the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute and, since 2018, has collaborated with the Tom Gold Dance Company in New York. In 2006, he won first prize in the MTNA National Piano Competition (Young Artist Division). A committed educator, Joseph teaches at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and at its pre-college division, where he offers private lessons, chamber coaching, and masterclasses. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, studying with Donald Pirone, Douglas Humpherys, and Robert McDonald.