German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has been hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.” He has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony. He works regularly with conductors of the highest level including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Neeme Jarvi and Paavo Jarvi.

The 2009/2010 season includes Johannes’ debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of Mariss Jansons, a return to the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival, a tour of the United States with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, debuts with the Sydney Symphony, WDR Orchestra in Cologne and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and performances of the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto with the Bayersicher Rundfunk under Welser-Möst. Highlights of his previous season included appearances with the Cincinnati, St. Louis and Seattle symphonies, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

A dedicated chamber musician, Johannes has played concerts with Midori and friends at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center and joined Midori and Jonathan Biss on a tour of trio concerts in Europe. He has also performed at many festivals including the Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad and Kissinger festivals, the Mehta Chamber Music Festival and the Colorado and Brevard music festivals.

Johannes also makes it one of his priorities to investigate the road less-travelled. His passion for and interpretation of new music has brought him much attention, not least from Boulez, with whom he gave his U.S. debut, playing the Rands Concerto with the Chicago Symphony. Currently, in addition to commissioning a new cello concerto from acclaimed German composer Christian Jost, Johannes is a strong advocate for already-existing, yet little-played concertos by composers such as Zimmerman, Hindemith, Honegger and Henze.

Together with the celebrated German poet Wolf Wondratschek, Johannes is going to tour a program that will not only feature both artists individually, but will combine and interweave sounds and spoken word. To achieve this, the program will also feature one of Johannes’ other passions, the electric cello, which he uses for improvisation and to explore new possibilities in sound. He has also inspired a number of composers to write for this instrument, mainly in combination with electronics.

Johannes is especially committed to reaching out to young audiences, from kindergarten to college and beyond. In January 2010, he will embark on a tour of North American campuses and alternative venues with pianist, toy pianist and composer Phyllis Chen. Their program will feature both traditional and experimental repertoire, as well as a variety of instruments including traditional piano and cello, prepared piano, toy piano, music box, prepared cello and electric cello. Their aim is to present contemporary classical music in terms with which young adults can connect. Each performance will be coupled with outreach activities to allow students to engage with the music themselves.

Johannes has received two ECHO Klassik awards for his recordings on Hänssler Classics. Released in 2006, his first disc of Russian sonatas won an ECHO Klassik 2007 award for “Young Artist of the Year.” He received his second ECHO Klassik award in 2008 as “Instrumentalist of the Year” for the Brahms and his Contemporaries Vol. I album, which is part of a three-disc series. Johannes’ concerto debut disc, which features the complete works of Saint-Saëns for cello and orchestra with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, was honored as one of Classics Today’s Top 10 CDs of 2008. Johannes recently recorded his sixth album, which features works by Britten, Bridge and Bax and will be released in 2010.

Born in Munich in 1979 as a dual citizen of Germany and Canada, Johannes began studying the cello at the age of eight and became a student of Professor David Geringas in 1997. He was the top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition, in addition to being awarded the Special Prize for his interpretation of the Rococo Variations.

Listen: WNYC radio interview

Praised by the New York Times for her “delightful quirkiness matched with interpretive sensitivity,” Phyllis Chen has become a trailblazer in performing original multimedia compositions using toy pianos, electronics and video and works by prominent contemporary composers. Her artistic pursuits take her in numerous directions as a toy pianist, pianist, composer and performance artist, leading to her selection as a New Music/New Places Fellow at the 2007 Concert Artist Guild International Competition.

Recently, Phyllis was the featured solo musician for the world premiere of Stephin Merritt’s Off-Broadway production, Coraline in May 2009 at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City. In this unique on-stage performance, Phyllis was praised as “impressive” (New York Times, June 2009) for her work as a multi-keyboardist, big and small. Other recent premieres include a commissioned work by American composer/percussionist Nathan Davis for toy piano and clock chimes premiered at Symphony Space as part of the Concert Artist Guild New Music/New Places Series.

Highlights for this upcoming season include tours through the US and Europe with the brilliant German-based cellist, Johannes Moser, where the duo will explore new works for piano, toy piano, cello, electric cello and music boxes. This Fall, Phyllis will be making her toy piano premiere at several world music festivals, including the Chicago World Music Festival and Lotus World Music Festival. She will also be making appearances at the distinguished Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the Look & Listen Festival in the Spring.

As an avid toy pianist, Phyllis founded the UnCaged Toy Piano, a composition competition to further expand the repertoire for toy piano and electronics. The competition has received works from composers all around the world and these compositions become an integral part of her repertoire. A strong interest in interdisciplinary work led her to collaborations with video artist and electronic musician Rob Dietz with whom she created multimedia works such as The Memoirist, Pearlessence, Chroma and Carousel.

Lauded for playing Beethoven 1st Concerto “with amazing grace, with enviable clarity, and with finger work of both strength and elasticity” (The Herald Times, IN), Ms. Chen’s traditional piano credits include honors at the International Bartok/Kabalevsky Piano and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. Her victory at the Marjorie Barnett Competition of Chicago included a special Bach Prize for her performance of the Goldberg Variations, and as a result, Phyllis was invited to perform at Chicago Symphony Center’s Buntrock Hall. She also performed on the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, aired live on WFMT Public Radio.

Phyllis is a member of ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), a Chicago and New York-based collective dedicated to the performance and promotion of new works. She has traveled to the west coast, England, Russia and Mexico with the ensemble.

Phyllis attended Oberlin Conservatory as a recipient of the Dean’s Talent Award Scholarship and received a Masters Degree from Northwestern University as an Eckstein Merit Scholar. She is continuing to pursue her DMA in piano performance at Indiana University where she studied with André Watts. Phyllis currently resides in Astoria, New York.