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Julian Hersh, cello
Raised in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, Julian Hersh
had ample role models for his musical education. His grandfather, Ralph,
was the violist of the Stuyvesant Quartet and played in the ABC Orchestra,
and both his father and brother are noted performers and pedagogues in
the field. Such an environment only nurtured Julian’s desire to
express himself through music at a very high level. Soon after he started
taking piano lessons at the age of six, Julian tussled with his teacher
over a particular phrase. “Why won’t you play it my way?” she
asked. “Because I want to play it Mozart’s way,” the
boy responded. At the age of ten, Julian switched to the cello, thereby
adding to the constant chatter and long hours of practice emanating from
the Hersh household. “Julian is deeply committed to the music,” says
Julian’s father, Paul. “He is not afraid of work, nor does
he shrink from a cold, hard assessment of his abilities where the music
is at stake.” Further study with Bonnie Hampton and Irene Sharp
at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and participation in various
music festivals helped him build a rich solo and chamber music repertoire.
In 1993 he had the rare privilege to study and perform the complete string
quartets of Elliot Carter under the supervision of the composer himself.
A number of chamber music opportunities followed, but it was the genesis
of the Jupiter Trio that gave Julian a permanent home for his musical
spirit.
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