Born in Seattle into a musical family, cellist Julian Schwarz is already being recognized as a cellist destined to rank among the finest of the 21st century. In August 2013, he was awarded first prize in the professional cello division of the inaugural Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition in Hong Kong. Mr. Schwarz made his orchestral debut at the age of 11 playing the Saint‐Saens Concerto No. 1 with the Seattle Symphony and his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium. Since then, he has appeared with the Seattle, San Diego, Puerto Rico, Columbus (OH), Syracuse, Virginia, Sarasota, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Wichita and Modesto symphonies among others, and performed recitals at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and in Palm Springs. During the 14/15 season, Mr. Schwarz makes debuts with the Charlotte, Toledo, Amarillo and Washington/Idaho symphonies, Louisville Orchestra and Symphony Silicon Valley in San Jose; returns to the Hartford and Boca Raton symphonies and the Northwest Sinfonietta; and plays recitals in Palm Springs, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. Internationally, he makes his Australian debut with the Queensland Symphony in Brisbane as well as his debut in Hong Kong appearing at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival. In August 2012, Julian Schwarz recorded the Samuel Jones Cello Concerto, which was written for him, with the newly formed All Star Orchestra, founded by Gerard Schwarz. The All Star Orchestra, comprised of orchestral musicians from major American orchestras, taped eight programs at that time, all of which were broadcast on public television in the fall of 2013 and then issued on DVD’s by Naxos. Mr. Schwarz’s previous recordings for Naxos include “In Memoriam” for the Music of Remembrance series and the Saint‐Saens No. 1 and Haydn C Major cello concertos with the Seattle Symphony. An avid chamber musician, Julian Schwarz has performed at the Aspen, Interlochen, Eastern, California Summer and Encore music festivals. He has been the “Featured Young Artist” at both the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and the Cape Cod Music Festival and attended and performed at the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He performed the Brahms Double at the Eastern Music Festival and the Bellingham Festival of Music in summer 2011 and returned to the Eastern Music Festival in summer 2013 to play the premiere of a new concerto by Richard Danielpour, A Prayer For Our Time. Julian Schwarz started piano lessons at the age of five and began his cello studies the following year with the late David Tonkonogui; subsequent teachers include Toby Saks, Lynn Harrell, Neal Cary and Ronald Leonard. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School in New York City in May 2014 where he studied with Joel Krosnick. These performances mark Julian Schwarz’s first appearances with the Charlotte Symphony. .