Amy Sue Barston
Artistic Director & Cellist
Praised as "passionate and elegant" by The New York Times, cellist Amy Sue Barston has performed as soloist on stages throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, Caramoor, Bargemusic, Haan Hall (Jerusalem), The Power House (Australia), and Prussia Cove (England).
She has performed Osvaldo Golijov's Omaramor in twenty international cities, receiving twenty consecutive standing ovations. Of the world premiere of Ned Rorem's Aftermath at Ravinia, The Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "the deep, rich tones of Barston's cello haunted the vocal line like a sorrowing vision." At seventeen she appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony on live television, won Grand Prize in the Society of American Musicians' Competition, and has since performed as soloist with dozens of orchestras.
Recently she gave thirty solo recitals and masterclasses, spanning from New York to New Zealand. Amy is the cellist of The Corigliano Quartet, which was hailed by Strad Magazine as having "abundant commitment and mastery," and whose Naxos CD was named one of the top two recordings of the year by both the New Yorker and Gramophone Magazine. Amy studied with Eleonore Schoenfeld at USC where she won the “Most Outstanding Graduate Award,” and Joel Krosnick at Juilliard, where she earned her Masters Degree. Amy is a devoted teacher, in her home and at Juilliard. Students commute hundreds of miles for lessons and occasionally come from as far as Alaska and Japan.