Aaron Wolff, cello and Victor Asuncion, piano

June 18, 2025, 12:15 pm

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Cellist Aaron Wolff and pianist Victor Asuncion
Cellist Aaron Wolff and pianist Victor Asuncion

Cellist Aaron Wolff and pianist Victor Asuncion perform works by Reena Esmail and César Franck live from the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.

Described by the Chicago Tribune as “a musician of quicksilver brilliance,” Aaron Wolff is a laureate of the 2024 Naumburg Cello Competition, and first prizewinner of the Boston Symphony Concerto competition. As winner of the Leo B. Ruiz Memorial Prize, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in Weil Recital Hall in 2023, and has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Musikverein, and Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums.

Hailed by The Washington Post for his “poised and imaginative playing,” Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion has appeared in concert halls in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey and the USA, as a recitalist and concerto soloist. He played his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra, and his New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1999. In addition, he has worked with conductors including Sergio Esmilla, Enrique Batiz, Mei Ann Chen, Zeev Dorman, Arthur Weisberg, Corrick Brown, David Loebel, Leon Fleisher, Michael Stern, Jordan Tang, and Bobby McFerrin.

Playlist

Some music is excluded from the podcast version for copyright reasons.

Reena Esmail: Jhula Jule

César Franck: Violin Sonata in A Major