biava quartet

Gwendolyn Krosnick

Cellist Gwendolyn Krosnick, of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, is the newest member of the Biava Quartet. A graduate of the double-degree program at Oberlin College and Conservatory, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Language and Literature, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance as a student of Darrett Adkins.

Ms. Krosnick has given frequent solo recitals in New York and Ohio, most recently including unaccompanied cello recitals exploring the connections between the suites of J.S. Bach and contemporary American solo music for cello, such as works of Shulamit Ran, Elliott Carter, and Richard Wernick.

Ms. Krosnick has premiered works written for her by Ralph Shapey (Prelude and Scherzando for Cello and Piano) and by Richard Wernick (Suite No. 1 and Suite No. 2 for Unaccompanied Cello). She has worked closely with Wernick on his two cello suites, as well as on his Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano, which Ms. Krosnick performed with Trio Cleonice, including premiering previously unperformed sections of the work. Ms. Krosnick also spent several years as a member of the celebrated Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble under the baton of Timothy Weiss.

Ms. Krosnick’s interest in the Bach cello suites has led her to a serious study of historical performance practice. As a baroque cellist, she participated in a residency at Juilliard with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. Ms. Krosnick was the recipient of the Cleveland Cello Society’s Agnew Bach Prize, and has studied historical performance with David Breitman. She has appeared in European music festivals such as the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and the Cello Masterclasses in Kronberg, Germany, where she has worked with Ralph Kirshbaum and Gary Hoffman.

Ms. Krosnick spent many summers at Greenwood Music Camp in Cummington, Massachusetts; more recently, she has studied and performed at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. As a founding member of Trio Cleonice, she performed concerts in Maine and New York. Ms. Krosnick has studied chamber music with Seymour Lipkin, Robert Mann, Mark Sokol, John Ziarko, Laurie Smukler, Joel Krosnick, Jane Coop, and Ronald Copes.

Ms. Krosnick has studied with cellists Darrett Adkins, Dmitry Kouzov, and Erica Wise, with pianist Brian Alegant, and with violinist Laurie Smukler. Following her academic studies at Oberlin, she spent a semester as a visiting student at Columbia University, studying Russian literature.