Verona Quartet with Yaron Kohlberg, piano

Acclaimed as an “outstanding ensemble…cohesive yet full of temperament” (The New York Times), the Verona Quartet has firmly established itself amongst the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. The group’s singular sense of purpose earned them Chamber Music America’s coveted 2020 Cleveland Quartet Award, and a reputation for its “bold interpretive strength, robust characterization and commanding resonance” (Calgary Herald). The Quartet serves on the faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory as the Quartet-in-Residence. In addition to its position at Oberlin, the Quartet recently held residencies at Nova Scotia’s Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, North Carolina’s Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle and the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute. As committed advocates of diverse programming, the Verona Quartet curated the UpClose Chamber Music Series on behalf of the COT, electrifying audiences with their “sensational, powerhouse performance[s]” (Classical Voice America). 

The Verona Quartet has appeared across four continents, captivating audiences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City), Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), Jordan Hall (Boston), Wigmore Hall (U.K.) and Melbourne Recital Hall (Australia), and has performed at festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Caramoor, the Texas Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Verona Quartet will debut at numerous prestigious series across the US and Canada including Clarion Concerts, the Chicago Chamber Music Society, La Jolla Athenaeum, the Hawaii Chamber Music Society, and Music Toronto, among others. The Quartet returns to Honolulu Chamber Music Series, Eureka Chamber Music Series, University of Southern California, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and in the spring will embark on its first tour across England. In the summer of 2024, the Quartet looks forward to returning to the Encore Chamber Music Institute and giving their debut at the esteemed Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

A string quartet for the 21st century, the Verona Quartet champions the rich breadth of the string quartet repertoire from the time-honored canon through contemporary classics. Notable commissions and premieres include works by composers Julia Adolphe, Texu Kim and Sebastian Currier as well as Michael Gilbertson’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated Quartet. In 2023, the Quartet celebrated several world premieres including a work for string quartet, yangqin (Chinese dulcimer) and dancer by Cheng Jin Koh, commissioned by The Smithsonian Institution in honor of the centennial of the Freer Gallery of Art.

The Verona Quartet’s recently released second album, SHATTER, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart in July 2023. SHATTER showcases works written for the Verona Quartet by American composers Julia Adolphe and Michael Gilbertson as well as Reena Esmail’s Ragamala, in collaboration with Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak. The Verona Quartet’s debut album, Diffusion, was praised by BBC Music Magazine for its "radiant glow" and Cleveland Classical for the “Verona’s technical precision, expressive freedom, and brilliant, dramatic phrasing”. The Quartet’s third album, comprised of Ligeti’s complete string quartets, will be released in December 2023 with Dynamic Records in celebration of the composer's centennial year.

In addition to promoting contemporary music, the Quartet strives for a dynamic, imaginative approach to collaboration and programming that champions cross-cultural and interdisciplinary enterprises. In upcoming seasons, the Quartet looks forward to collaborations with saxophonist Steven Banks, clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, pianist Eric Lu, and pipa virtuoso Wu Man. Past projects include a live-performance art installation with artist Ana Prvački, performances with dancers from Brooklyn’s Dance Heginbotham, artistic exchanges with traditional Emirati poets in the UAE, and a collaboration with GRAMMY-winning folk trio I’m With Her.

Continuing in the lineage of their esteemed mentors the Cleveland, Juilliard and Pacifica Quartets, the Verona Quartet’s rapid rise to international prominence was fueled by top prize wins at the Wigmore Hall, Melbourne, M-Prize and Osaka International Chamber Music Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition.

The ensemble’s “vibrant, intelligent” (TheNew York Times) performances emanate from the spirit of storytelling; the Quartet believes that this transcends genre and therefore the name “Verona” pays tribute to William Shakespeare, one of the greatest storytellers of all time.

Engage, inspire, connect. These are the pillars guiding world-renowned pianist and Steinway artist Yaron Kohlberg every day. Kohlberg ignites audiences through traditional and nontraditional performances, develops creative programming, and supports emerging artists, making him a leader and innovator in the world of classical music.

While those crowds are often found in famous venues (Carnegie Hall, the Kremlin, Beijing’s Forbidden City, Kennedy Center, and Mexico City’s Bellas Artes are some of the iconic auditoriums he has performed as soloist), Kohlberg reaches beyond the concert-going public to engage new audiences with classical music in atypical places – a street piano in Singapore, a hotel lobby in Marrakech, a community center in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. It is in these unexpected performances where he crosses cultural divides and awakens listeners to new experiences. 

Kohlberg often combines storytelling and transcriptions of popular tunes with traditional classical masterpieces, thrilling audiences and critics with his virtuosity and unique quality of sound. NPR raved, “When the music ends, if you’re not deeply moved by the depth of Kohlberg’s insight, you might want to check your pulse.” Audience favorites include Carmen, the theme songs from the Pulp Fiction and Mission Impossible soundtracks, “Hava Nagila” and the children’s song “The Most Beautiful Girl in Kindergarten.”

Winner of 10 international prizes and the 2007 silver medalist of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Kohlberg is President of Piano Cleveland, the organizing body of the CIPC. Original programming he has co-created includes the upcoming Artist Development Program, an enrichment and professional development program for top-tier young pianists; The Listening Series, an in-person and virtual event that takes audiences from the couch to the concert hall as musicians take a deep dive into their work; and Virtu(al)oso, a global piano competition that raised more than $75,000 to support pianists during the pandemic. Articles about his creative ideas have been featured in several of the best classical music publications, including Pianist Magazine, Musical America, and The World of Piano Competitions magazine.

Kohlberg and his friend Bishara Haroni comprise the successful Israeli-Palestinian group, Duo Amal. They have performed world-wide, including at Geneva’s UN Hall, a remarkable example of the power of music to overcome cultural differences. The Vatican took notice, and invited them to perform for the Pope in 2020, which has been postponed due to Covid.

Forging connections through collaboration is a hallmark of Kohlberg’s work. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestras, the Beijing and Chengdu Symphony Orchestras, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and the Palermo Teatro Massimo Orchestra in Italy, working with conductors Thomas Sondergard, Jahja Ling, Roman Kofman, En Shao, Steven Byess and Ryan McAdams. He has also collaborated with the Limón Dance company, cellists Toke Møldrup and Nicholas Altstaedt, pianists Yeol Eum Son and Dong Hyek Lim, choreographer and dancer Jin Xing, rock star Shlomi Shaban, composer Alexey Kurbatov and the Ariel String Quartet. He was also artistic director of a cover band concert tour of his beloved alternative rock group, Radiohead.

In addition to co-leading Piano Cleveland, performing, and serving on international competition juries, Kohlberg also lectures and conducts masterclasses at leading institutions around the world. He speaks six languages, including Mandarin Chinese, has lived on three continents, and traveled to 85 countries. Immersing himself in other cultures and forging strong relationships with people from all over the world has inspired Kohlberg to dedicate his life to sharing the beauty of his greatest passion, the piano.