Julian Schwarz was born to a multigenerational musical family in 1991. Recognized from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the best of the 21st century, his powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palate are hallmarks of his style. 

Since making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony with his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium, he has led an active career as a soloist, performing with the symphony orchestras of Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Hartford, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Modesto, Omaha, Puerto Rico, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, Seattle, Toledo, Tucson, and Virginia, among others. Internationally, he has appeared in Australia with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, in Mexico with the Boca del Río Philharmonic in Veracruz and the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and in Hong Kong at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival. He has also appeared at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. 

As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 the Schwarz-Bournaki duo was awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017.

Julian Schwarz is an ardent supporter of new music and has premiered concertos by Richard Danielpour and Samuel Jones. In the 17-18 season, he gave the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s first Cello Concerto with the Toledo Symphony followed by performances of the work with a consortium of five other orchestras (including these ASO’s performances). No stranger to the recording studio, he has recorded Bright Sheng’s Northern Lights for Naxos, the complete cello/piano works by Ernest Bloch for the Milken Archive of Jewish Music, and a CD of concertos with the Seattle Symphony. 

A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Associate Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory and on the artist faculty of New York University. He spends his summers teaching and performing at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. 

Born in Seattle, WA, Julian Schwarz studied at the Colburn School in Los Angeles under Ronald Leonard, followed by a move to New York City to study with mentor Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, earning his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Mr. Schwarz plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743 and uses an American bow made by Paul Martin Siefried. He is an active contributor to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog and sits on the music committee of the National Arts Club.