Desirée Ruhstrat, violin

Desirée Ruhstrat made her professional début at the age of twelve with Lukas Foss and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and at age 16 she was invited by Sir Georg Solti to perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in Chicago's Orchestra Hall. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world, including the Berlin Radio Symphony, Radio Suisse Romande, Göttingen Symphony, Philharmonia Da Camera, Colorado Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Utah Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles, and National Repertory Orchestra. She has worked with such renowned conductors as Eric Kunzel, Max Rudolph, William Smith, Rico Saccani, Brian Priestman, Mats Liljefors among others.

Desirée has won numerous awards including First Prize at the National Young Musicians Début Competition in Los Angeles, where she was also lauded a special award for a young performer with extraordinary talent. She became the youngest prizewinner at Switzerland's Tibor Varga International Competition and also won the award for best interpretation of the commissioned contemporary composition. She went on to earn top prizes at the Carl Flesch, Julius Stulberg, and the Mozart Festival Violin Competitions. Desirée's distinguished career as a chamber musician includes performances throughout the US, South America, Europe and Asia and multiple recordings on the Cedille label as a member of the 2016 GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio, the Black Oak Ensemble, and the Chiacgo Piano Quartet.

She is Lecturer in Violin at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.

Aurelien Fort Pederzoli, viola

French-born violist Aurélien Fort Pederzoli is a graduate of the Paris Conservatory. He then attended the Bern Hochschule, Switzerland, where he was in the master class of Prof. Monika Urbaniak and received guidance from Prof. Igor Ozim. his primary teacher was Veda Reynolds, a professor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

In 2008, Aurélien founded the Anaphora Ensemble, a chamber music project which appeared frequently on national radio and performed in eclectic places, from the Green Mill to symphony halls. From 2008 to 2012, Aurélien was the first violinist of the Corky Siegel Chamber Blues Band and toured nationally and internationally with them. Other collaborations include Rachel Kolly, Christian Chamorel, Daniel Barenboim, Kent Nagano, the Ysaÿe Quartet, H.J. Lim, members of Eighth Blackbird, Shmuel Ashkenasi, The Lincoln Trio, and Mathieu Dufour, to name a few.

From 2009 until 2014, Aurélien was one of the violinists, and a founding member, of the Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet, in residence at the University of Chicago. In 2015, Aurélien founded (alongside Desirée Ruhstrat and David Cunliffe) The Black Oak Ensemble, and has been performing with them ever since.

Aurélien is one of the founders of the music festival Musique Dans Le Gers, based in the southwest of France.

David Cunliffe, cellist

Cellist David Cunliffe has performed with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestras and the Balanescu Quartet, with whom he toured extensively to Australia, Europe and the United States, appearing frequently on radio and TV including NPR and BBC. He has performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room in London, and  throughout Europe, Asia and South

David has collaborated in chamber music performances with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Alberto Lysy, Roger Chase, Simon Keenlyside, Arianna Zukerman, Ilya Kaler, Roberto Diaz, Paul Colletti, Mathieu Dufour and Ricardo Morales, and he was invited to perform with the Rembrandt Chamber Players, and Chicago Chamber Musicians. He relishes playing continuo for the Bach Week Festival.

Valuing cultural diversity in music, David is a passionate supporter of the Chicago based Chinese Fine Arts Society and the Korean Sejong Cultural Society, which in 2015 commissioned three works based on Korean themes. With the Balanescu Quartet David was involved in numerous projects including recording the CD, “Arabian Waltz” with the renowned oud player Rabih Abou Khalil.

His teachers included Margaret Moncreiff, Moray Welsh and Antonio Lysy at the Royal Northern College of Music where he was the recipient of the Terrance Weill and Leonard Hirsch Quartet prizes and the Lady Barbirolli Chamber Music Award. He also studied with William Pleeth, Ralph Kirshbaum and Christopher Bunting. He completed his studies at the International Yehudi Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland where he studied with Radu Aldulescu and toured throughout Europe with Yehudi Menuhin and the Camerata Lysy.

He is currently on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago.

Marta Aznavoorian, piano

Marta Aznavoorian is known for her inspiringly spirited playing and vast emotional reach. The multi Grammy-nominated artist made her professional début at the age of 13 performing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 with the Chicago Symphony at the invitation of Sir Georg Solti. She went on to perform with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Chicago Symphony and the New World Symphony at the invitation of Michael Tilson Thomas, who was also the conductor.

Marta has performed and recorded with violinists Joshua Bell, Philippe Quint and Stefan Milenkovich, and has appeared at some of this country's most prestigious festivals, including Ravinia, Tanglewood and Marlboro. She performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Boston Pops in June of 2024.

Her many awards and accolades include 1st Prize in the Stravinsky International Competition as well as the Special Prize for best interpretation of the commissioned contemporary work.  

Marta has recorded extensively for the Naxos, Warner Classics and Erato labels, and has just released her 7th album on Cedille Records. She is a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio, which Fanfare Magazine called the “hottest trio in the business.”

She is a Steinway Artist and a Lecturer at the DePaul University School of Music.