BLACK OAK ENSEMBLE

Praised for its “insightful, committed and masterful performances” (Classics Today 10/10) and “fierce eloquence” (London Times)The Black Oak Ensemble has established itself as one of the most innovative and exciting chamber ensembles on the international stage.

The Trios CD release, “Avant l’orage,” a double album of French string trios, reached #1 in the Billboard Classical Charts and was featured as Album of the week on Symphony Hall Sirius XM and was nominated for a 2023 ICMA International Chamber Music  Award.

 

Black Oak’s debut album, "Silenced Voices" (Cedille Records),  is dedicated

to Jewish composers, most of whom lost their lives during the Holocaust.

It has been featured in Gramophone and Strings magazines and on BBC

Radio 3, The Violin Channel and Sirius XM.

 

The ensemble has collaborated with renowned artists such as guitarists Mak Grgic, Goran Ivanovic, Denis Azabagic and José Ferreira, harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, Avery Fisher Career Grant winner pianist Henry Kramer, Pallavi Mahidahra, members of Eighth Blackbird, NOIS and flutist Eugenia Molinar. As passionate advocates of new works, they have commissioned and premiered string trios from renowned composers such as Errolyn Wallen, Shirley Thompson, Michael Nyman, David Ludwig, Mischa Zupko, and Conrad Tao and discovered works by Dick Kattenburg, Geza Fríd, Gustave Samazeuilh, Henri Tomasi and Robert Casadesus. 

 

Recent international tours have taken the Black Oak Ensemble to Amsterdam, Geneva (a special performance dedicated to human rights), the Everlasting Hope Festival in Terezin, (in honor of composers persecuted and murdered by the Nazis during the occupation of Prague), Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, Rennes, Corsica, Serbia, Belgrade and Poland . In the summer of 2023, the ensemble collaborated with violinist Rachel Kolly and cellist Nadege Rochat for sold out performances at the Schubertiade in Fribourg, Switzerland.

 

In the U.S. they have appeared at the Newport Music Festival, RAVINIA Festival ,Music at the Morgan, New York University, Chicago Cultural Center, Art Institute of Chicago, Latino Music

Festival (Chicago), University of Oregon and many other venues. As dedicated educators, their students and ensembles have been prize winners of national and international competitions and the Black Oak Ensemble have held residencies at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, St. John’s School for the Arts (USVI) and  Arizona State University. They are proud to collaborate with 'In Crescendo' based in Colombia, South America, Evanston Young Artists, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative and the RAVINIA Festival's El Sistema program.

 

The Black Oak Ensemble consists of violinist Desirée Ruhstrat and cellist David Cunliffe, members of the multi-GRAMMY-nominated Lincoln Trio, and violist Aurélien Fort Pederzoli, a founding member of the ground-breaking, GRAMMY-nominated Spektral Quartet.

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