Classical in Culver City #18 - Viola and Piano duet in an intimate setting

Rebecca Clarke - Morpheus
Marie Jaell - Quatre Melodies
Jay Julio - ... remaindered life

intermission

Johannes Brahms - Sonata for Viola and Piano in Eb Major

BIOS:

From Uniondale, New York, first-generation Filipino-American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and writer Jay Julio (b. 1997) splits time between NYC, Philadelphia, and on tour. Jay serves as Assistant Principal Violist of the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and has performed with the American Composers Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, and for over a year with the Angelica touring company of Hamilton. Solo appearances include concertos with the Ocala Symphony, the Marquette Symphony, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Jay has recorded for Parma, Nonesuch, and Broadway Records, including releases nominated for 2025 and 2026 Grammy Awards, and they have been heard on radio/TV across the US, Australia, and Europe both as musician and equity advocate. They are a 2025 recipient of an Interdisciplinary New York State Council for the Arts grant and a 2025 YoungArts Alumni Microgrant to support the development of their original musical/literary/visual work america is in the heart, and will serve as a Tell Your Story fellow at the 2026 Spoleto Music Festival, working with members of the Charleston, SC community to devise a collaborative artistic work through the lens of local experiences.

They look forward to a renewed commitment to new music in the 2025-2026 season; highlights include shows with the BlackBox Ensemble in an all-Asian-American music program at National Sawdust, celebrating the album release of Charles Gaines’ Manifestos 6 at CAP UCLA, and regional premieres of works by James Lee III, Courtney Bryan, and themselves in a duo tour of the Midwest with pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen. After starting formal musical training at 14, Jay received a BM from the Manhattan School of Music at 20 and a MM from the Juilliard School as a full-tuition Susan W. Rose Fellow, studying with Karen Ritscher, Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Matthew Lipman. Other important mentors include Leilehua Lanzilotti, Todd Low, and Saskia Hamilton. Away from the instrument, Jay is an award-winning poet; their work can be found in the Cincinnati Review, the Mississippi Review, and elsewhere.

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Cathy Yang has lived and studied music in China, Canada, Germany, and the United States. Praised for her sensitive, brilliant, and spirited playing by the Nordwest-Zeitung, Cathy is a versatile pianist, collaborative artist, and conductor. During her formative years in Canada, Cathy received prizes at many regional festivals in Ontario and in the nation-wide Canadian Music Competition. In 2006, she won first prizes at both the solo and concerto piano competitions at Ithaca College in Ithaca (NY). In the same year, she was invited by the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation as one of two representatives from Canada to participate in the music festival “Moscow Meets Friends”. She received first place in the Virtuosic Artist group at “Concours International de Concertos IAPMT 2023” in Azusa (CA).

Together with two singers, Cathy founded the Aix Alma Trio and toured Germany twice with unique and engaging concert programs. She is also the curator and producer of Fables, a program combining Impressionistic and video game music, which held an Artist Residency at Wellesley College in Boston (MA). 7 Cathy holds bachelor and master degrees in piano performance from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in Cologne, Germany, and a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts from USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles (CA). Currently, she is expanding her musical horizons through a Master’s program in Instrumental Conducting with Maestro Johannes Müller Stosch at CSU Long Beach.