Ezra Escobar, cello & Ryan Senger, piano

The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts | WFMT

Cellist Ezra Escobar and pianist Ryan Senger perform works by Nicanor Abelardo and Sergei Rachmaninoff live from the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, Chicago.

Lauded as “vibrant” and “gifted” (Chicago Classical Review), Filipino-American cellist Ezra Escobar maintains a prolific output as a multigenre cellist, composer, and music producer. He made his solo debut at age 16 with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago and was a guest soloist with the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra. Other engagements include appearances with the Young Steinway Concert Series, Chicago Rush Hour Concerts, on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, collaborations with activist music collective Sound Off and a residency with noted jazz clarinetist Ken Peplowski at Birdland Jazz Club in NYC. Ezra is a resident artist of the Fil-Am Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting exceptional Filipino classical musicians through scholarship assistance and performance opportunities. As a composer, his works have premiered at Symphony Center, the Evanston Chamber Music Society, and the Heifetz Institute. He is currently at work on his first solo record as a cellist, inspired by 2000s rave culture and dance music.

Ryan Senger is a Chicago based pianist who ardently promotes the expansion of today’s classical cannon. Maintaining an active performance schedule as a recitalist and collaborator, recent engagements have seen him perform at the Brevnov Monastery in the Prague Piano Festival; Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands; on the Steinway Piano Series in Tampa, Florida; and as a chamber music collaborator with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In 2022, Senger won the U.S. OSAKA International Music Competition for piano. Additional awards and honors have included receiving the Steinway Young Artist Prize, given at the 2019 Brancaleoni International Music Festival, as well receiving first prizes at the 2021 University of South Florida Piano Competition and the 2016 Kleinman Piano Competition.

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