The fourth annual Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition announces Finalists

The Finalists are bassist, Nina Bernat; cellist, Cheng “Allen” Liang; and violinist, Yuki Serino.

The Competition Finals will be held at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center Recital Hall and will be streamed live on The Violin Channel. Admission is free of charge. The Finals will be adjudicated by Ida Kavafian, Colin Carr, Robert Mealy, Arthur Haas, and Phoebe Carrai.

About the Finalists:

Nina Bernat began studying bass under the instruction of her father and former member of the Israel Philharmonic, Mark Bernat. She has continued her studies with Tim Cobb and cellist Astrid Schween at the Juilliard School.

Cheng “Allen” Liang is currently studying cello under the tutelage of Paul Watkins at the Yale School of Music (M.M. 2023), and has studied with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott at the Eastman School of Music (B.M. 2021) and Clive Greensmith at the Colburn Music Academy.

Yuki Serino started studying the violin under the guidance of her parents at the age of 3. She is currently attending the Pre-College at The Mozarteum University in Salzburg under the guidance of Pierre Amoyal, and studied with Giuliano Carmignola, Georg Egger, and Miriam Dal Don.

This competition was established to honor Long Island residents Lillian and Maurice Barbash for their life-long commitment to the arts.

Said Christina Dahl, Chair of the Stony Brook Music Department:

“We are proud and grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Lillian and Maurice Barbash Bach Competition. It is incredibly exciting to watch the evolution of this Competition, and to see how quickly it has become established as a serious competition destination for this new generation of string players. We thank the Barbash family for establishing a competition that honors their parents, and for championing young interpreters of the great J.S. Bach”