RICHARD L. AARON

Richard L. Aaron presently serves as professor of cello at the University of Michigan and The Juilliard School. Previously he taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory. Aaron has given master classes in Spain, Germany, France, Korea, Japan, China and Australia, as well as at many of the leading music schools in North America, including Rice University, Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Mannes, the Hartt School and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Since 2003, Aaron has been on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and has taught at many other summer music institutes including the Indiana University String Academy, Calgary Music Bridge, Peter the Great Music Festival (Groningen, Holland), Aria International Summer Academy (Massachusetts), Innsbruck Summer Music Academy (Missouri), Chautauqua Institution (New York), the Idyllwild Summer Program (California), Heifetz International Music Institute (Virginia), Marrowstone Music Festival (Port Townsend, Washington), and Encore (Ohio).

JOHN-HENRY CRAWFORD

John-Henry Crawford, 20 year old cellist, from Shreveport, LA, attends the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he  studies with Carter Brey, Principal Cellist of New York Philharmonic and Peter Wiley, formerly of the Guarneri Quartet. John-Henry holds the Nina and Billy Albert Fellowship at Curtis. Having entered Curtis at age 16, this is his fifth year there.

John-Henry gave his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra last fall as First Prize Winner, Sr. Divison of the orchestra’s Greenfield Concerto Competition.  He received praise from The Philadelphia Inquirer, stating that he “projected polished charisma and a singing sound in Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto.” He has been featured twice with Christopher O’Riley on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” show, and has given concerts in 14 states as well as Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Crawford has soloed with many orchestras, including the Louisiana Philharmonic, and Lewisville Lake symphony, and has been a prize winner in numerous competitions, including the Lynn Harrell Competition of the Dallas Symphony, Music Teachers National Association, and Kingsville International. He was accepted at the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland in 2012, where he was the only American cellist of eight selected world-wide. He also attended Pinchas Zukerman’s National Arts Center Young Artist Program in Canada for the month of June and performed at MusicAlps in Courchevel, France.  

John-Henry is from a musical family and performs on the 200 year old European cello handed down from his Austrian grandfather and cellist Dr. Robert Popper. In addition to playing the cello he enjoys playing cooking, swimming, and performing magic tricks. 

GRACE SOHN

Grace Sohn began her cello studies at the age of six in her native South Korea with Jun Su Jung. Since her move to Vancouver in 2009, Grace has been a student of Joseph Elworthy at the Vancouver Academy of Music where she actively participates in chamber music and orchestra rehearsals where she frequently occupies a leadership position with the VAM Symphony Orchestra. Grace has performed for numerous cellists such as Sung Won Yang, Efe Baltacigil, Desmond Hoebig, Sung Yong Lim and Ariel Barnes in addition to participating in the 2010 Aldo Parisot Cellofest.

Ms. Sohn has been the recipient of many awards and honors such as the Canadian Music Competition, Kay Meek Competition, Seattle Young Artist Music Competition, Bjorn & Lori Hareid Senior Secondary Competition, VAM’s Concerto Competition, Kiwanis Music Festival, and the Burnaby Clef Competition. Grace performed with the VAM Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theater as soloist. Grace was invited to perform at the Chan Centre as part of the Royal Conservatory’s Convocation ceremonies. Recently as a winner of the Seattle Young Artist Music Festival, she performed with the Philharmonia Northwest at the Kane Hall as soloist. Grace is an avid chamber music musician, studying under Andrew Dawes, and Taras Gabora. Summer 2014, Ms Sohn attended the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival (Italy) where she studied with Sung Won Yang and Jan Ickert. Summer 2015, she will be attending the Banff Masterclass for Strings program. Grace is currently fifteen years old attending Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam (Canada). Grace Sohn plays Neuner & Hornsteincer cello made in 1880, Germany.

ROBERT DEMAINE

Named Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel in 2012, the American virtuoso cellist Robert deMaine has been praised by The New York Times as "An artist who makes one hang on every note." Mr. deMaine has distinguished himself as one of the finest and versatile musicians of his generation, having performed worldwide to vast critical acclaim from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Grieghalle and Den Norske Opera in Norway, KKL Luzern, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, and the Berlin Philharmonic.  

A first-prizewinner in many national and international competitions, Mr. deMaine became, in 1990, the first cellist ever to win the Grand Prize at San Francisco's Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings.  As soloist, he has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Peter Oundjian, Joseph Silverstein, Alexander Schneider, and Leonard Slatkin, and has performed virtually all of the major cello concerto repertoire with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Principal Cellist since 2002. Mr. deMaine has also served as principal in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Norway). 

Robert deMaine's principal teachers include Leonard Rose, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, Aldo Parisot, Luis Garcia-Renart, and Felix Galimir, and counts among his chamber-music partners violinists James Ehnes, Hilary Hahn, Ani and Ida Kavafian, pianists Emanuel Ax, Orion Weiss, and Yefim Bronfman.  He has made regular appearances at the international music festivals of Marlboro, Aspen, Heidelberg, San Miguel de Allende, Montréal, and Seattle, and is also the cellist of the highly acclaimed Ehnes Quartet.

From a military and musical family of French and Polish descent, Mr. deMaine studied at the Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, University of Southern California, Yale University, and the Kronberg Academy in Germany.  For more information, please visit his official website at www.robertdemaine.com.

"Rafael and his team have worked on and set-up four different very fine instruments for me (including a Vuillaume and a Stradivari), each time with the best success in sound quality, projection, and playability. In addition to the ultra-accommodating and very rapid expert service that I have personally received every time I have visited, they have been very generous with their time, reasonable with pricing, and respectful in all of their dealings. I love this shop, and wish I could take them everywhere with me! Bravi tutti to Rafael and all the staff at Carrabba Violins!"