Chicago born Cellist Alexander Hersh and pianist Evan Wong present music of Debussy, Webern, Fauré, and Barber.
Having already performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony and the Boston Pops, cellist Alexander Hersh has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile talents of his generation. He has received top prizes at competitions worldwide including the: 2019 Astral Artists National Auditions, New York International Artists Association Competition, National Federation of Music Clubs Biennial Young Artists Competition, Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra, Ima Hogg, Schadt, Luminarts Classical Music Fellowship, Hellam Young Artist Competition, Boston Pops/New England Conservatory Competition, and Fischoff National Chamber Music competition.
A passionate chamber musician, Hersh has performed at festivals worldwide including: Marlboro, Caramoor, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Music@Menlo, I-M-S Prussia Cove, Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Amsterdam Cello Biennial, Kneisel Hall, Lucerne, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Domaine Forget, and the Meadowmount School of Music.
Hersh is co-artistic director of NEXUS Chamber Music, a collective of international artists committed to stimulating interest in serious chamber music. NEXUS presents a two week chamber music festival across the city of Chicago each August, featuring new and obscure works alongside standard works of the chamber music canon. NEXUS plays to unusual and intimate venues with the mission of breaking down the barriers that often separate performers from audience members.
Raised in Chicago, Alexander Hersh began playing the cello at the age of 5. He studied with Steve Balderston and Hans Jørgen Jensen, and attended the Academy at the Music Institute of Chicago. Hersh received his B.M. from New England Conservatory (with academic honors) where he was a student of Laurence Lesser and recipient of the Clara M. Friedlaender Scholarship. In May of 2017, he received his M.M. from New England Conservatory where he studied under the tutelage of Paul Katz and Kim Kashkashian. Hersh was a recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe fund for studies in Berlin during the 2017 – 2018 academic year where he studied with Nicolas Altstaedt at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule for Musik Berlin. He plays a G.B. Rogeri cello on generous loan from a sponsor through Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins in Chicago, IL.
Evan Wong has studied at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media since 2014 with Matti Raekallio and Ewa Kupiec, and at Northwestern University since 2016 with Alan Chow. He spent 2012–2014 at the Juilliard School studying with Matti Raekallio and Jerome Lowenthal, and at the New England Conservatory in the United States 2005–2012 with Wha Kyung Byun. He was the silver medal and audience prize winner at the 2016 Sendai International Music Competition. A regular guest at major festivals, he has appeared at the Verbier, Lucerne, Ravinia and Aspen festivals, to name just a few. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras including the Sendai Philharmonic, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, and World Civic Orchestra. Performance highlights in 2017 include recital and concerto tours throughout Japan, Taiwan and Germany. He is currently pursuing a doctorate at Northwestern University.
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