Shriver Hall Concert Series Presents Baltimore Debuts of Pablo Ferrández and OAK Trio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646-378-9386

SHRIVER HALL CONCERT SERIES PRESENTS THE
BALTIMORE DEBUTS OF CELLIST PABLO FERRANDEZ 
AND OAK TRIO THIS OCTOBER

SHCS’s 61st Season Opens with Spanish Cellist 
Pablo Ferrández on October 11; 
SHCS Presents OAK Trio as Part of Free 
Discovery Series on October 24

www.ShriverConcerts.org

September 9, 2026 (Baltimore, MD) – Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) — Baltimore’s leading presenter of classical and chamber music — opens its 61st season with the Baltimore recital debut of acclaimed Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández on Sunday, October 11, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. at Shriver Hall.

A top prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Ferrández has been lauded as a “new cello genius” (Le Figaro), while the Los Angeles Times raved: “Pop-idol magnetism, superb technique, and exhilarating musicality reveal a sure star in the making…a cello phenomenon.” Ferrández’s program includes Spanish composer Gaspar Cassadó’s cello suite, Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G major and Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, plus Britten’s Cello Suite No. 1, Op. 72. 

SHCS opens its annual free Discovery Series with the Baltimore debut of the OAK Trio on Saturday, October 24th, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The OAK Trio brings together three of today’s most exciting young artists: pianist Evren Ozel, recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant; violinist Nathan Amaral, a Classic FM Rising Star and Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient; and cellist Leland Ko, First Prize Winner of the Naumburg Cello Competition. Their program explores the common humanity of different cultural songs and dances through the works of Haydn, Gabriela Lena Frank, Paul Schoenfeld, and Dvorák.

For over 60 years, Shriver Hall Concert Series has brought world-class musicians and artists to Baltimore and its surrounding communities, enriching the cultural scene with outstanding performances in classical and chamber music. This season, SHCS features both established artists and some of the industry’s most exciting new talent, for programming that explores classic masterpieces and modern compositions alike. 

The next concert as part of SHCS’s subscription series presents the long-awaited Baltimore debut of pianist Igor Levit on Sunday, November 1, 2026, 5:30 p.m. at Shriver Hall with an all-Beethoven program. 

Concert Information

Pablo Ferrández, cello (Baltimore Recital Debut)
Sunday, October 11, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
Shriver Hall | 3400 N. Charles Street | Baltimore, MD 21218
Tickets: Subscriptions from $265; Single Tickets from $40; $10 Students
Link: shriverconcerts.org/ferrandez

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009
GASPAR CASSADÓ: Cello Suite
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Cello Suite No. 1, Op. 72

A Pre-Concert Talk takes place at 4:30 pm in Shriver Hall with The Peabody Institute's Anna Celenza.
_______________________________

Discovery Series: OAK Trio (Baltimore Debut)
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 3:00 p.m.
Baltimore Museum of Art | 10 Art Museum Drive | Baltimore, MD 21218
Tickets: Free; Available for reservation September 14, 2026
Link: shriverconcerts.org/oaktrio

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN: Piano Trio in A major, Hob. XV/18 
GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Four Folk Songs for Piano Trio 
PAUL SCHOENFIELD: Café Music
ANTONÍN DVORÁK: Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90 “Dumky” 

Artists:
Evren Ozel, piano
Nathan Amaral, violin
Leland Ko, cello

About Pablo Ferrández
Spain has long produced cellists who define their era. Casals shaped the instrument for the 20th century; Pablo Ferrández, according to Le Figaro, may be doing the same for the 21st—“a new cello genius,” as the paper put it, with the Los Angeles Times calling out “pop-idol magnetism, superb technique and exhilarating musicality.” Resonances Lyriques went further: this soloist belongs to the elite of current international cellists and seems destined to follow in the footsteps of another illustrious Spanish cellist named Pablo, Pablo Casals.”

A prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Ferrández has become one of the most in-demand cellists of his generation. His debut album "Reflections" (2021), released on Sony Classical, won the Opus Klassik Award; his second, released in 2022, paired him with Anne-Sophie Mutter, the Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck and pianist Lambert Orkis in the Brahms Double Concerto and C. Schumann’s Piano Trio. His most recent release, "Moonlight Variations" (2025), featuring Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, conductor Martin Fröst and pianist Julien Quentin, topped the streaming charts on release and drew rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

Recent seasons have taken him to the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Filarmonica della Scala, Santa Cecilia, Toronto Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Beijing NCPA Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Seoul Philharmonic—alongside tours with the London Philharmonic, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, and Czech Philharmonic. He is also a regular at Verbier, Sion, Salzburg, Rheingau, Tsinandali, Aix-en-Provence, and Dvorák Prague festivals.

The 2026-27 season brings major debuts, including the BBC Proms with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto alongside pianist Lang Lang and violinist Leonidas Kavakos, Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the Esterhazy Palace, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Athens State Symphony, and the Staatsphilharmonie  Rheinland-Pfalz. 

Returns include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Konzerthaus, Bamberg Symphony, Würth Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, RTVE Symphony, NDR Radiophilharmonie, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Valencia Orchestra, OSPA, Ireland National Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. 

He tours Spain with the Musikkollegium Winterthur and Germany with the BBC Philharmonic and the Ensemble Resonanz. Recitals follow at the Palau de la Música Catalana, Music Toronto, Shriver Hall Concert Series, and 92NY. Festival appearances include Verbier, Prades, Schloss Elmau, Accordi Musicali, and Shenzhen Verbier.

Ferrández plays the Stradivarius “Archinto” of 1689, on a generous lifelong loan from a member of the Stretton Society.

About OAK Trio
The OAK Trio is a convergence of three completely unique personalities into one entity: a pianist who transfixes with his complete mastery over sound, time, and space; a violinist who finds a dazzling truth and freedom in the fusion of his instrument and his voice; and a cellist who restlessly questions, digs deep, and wonders what it all means.

The trio was born in the fall of 2024 in Boston out of a mutual love for chamber music — both the music itself and what the genre brings out of each of us — and strives to live by the proverbial belief that a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The group takes its name from the surnames of its three young soloists (Evren Ozel, Nathan Amaral, and Leland Ko), and, as oak is the national tree of at least 15 different countries, it symbolizes not just the canonical strength and endurance but also a culture shared between us all.

American pianist Evren Ozel has been described as “an absolute wow” (Third Coast Review) and “an artist capable of lifting everyone to another level” (La Scena Musicale).  He is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition, where he also won the Mozart Concerto Prize, and the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant.  His debut album of Mozart Concertos with RSO-Wien and Howard Griffiths was BBC Music Magazine’s “Album of the Week” in September 2025.  He has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Florida Orchestra, and is a 2024-27 Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Winner of the 2024 Sphinx Competition and a Classic FM 30 Under 30 Rising Star, violinist Nathan Amaral has been hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as “one of the rare musicians who not only possesses the gift of ample technical ability but uses it to transcend technique.” He has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestra. Recent highlights include a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as acclaimed appearances at Wigmore Hall, the KKL at the Lucerne Festival, and Symphony Hall in Boston.

Nicknamed “the storyteller” and “a daring prince” by the media during his time at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, cellist Leland Ko is a first prize winner of the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition, an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, and a third prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Leland was a long-time student of Kirsten Peltz, Ronald Lowry, and Paul Katz before attending Princeton University, where he graduated with an A.B. in German Literature.  He went on to complete an M.M. at The Juilliard School under the teaching of Minhye Clara Kim, Timothy Eddy, and Natasha Brofsky, and then earned an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory under guidance of Laurence Lesser, Yeesun Kim, and Donald Weilerstein.  He resides in Boston, with his 14-year-old cat, Ham.

About Shriver Hall Concert Series
For more than 60 years, Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) has been “Baltimore’s finest importer of classical music talent” (The Baltimore Sun) and the area’s premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists with a mission to enrich the Baltimore community through outstanding chamber music and recital experiences. A 5-time recipient of Baltimore Magazine’s distinction “Best Classical Music” in its annual “Best of Baltimore” issue, the coveted subscription series features many of the world’s most renowned soloists and ensembles, presented in The Johns Hopkins University’s Shriver Hall.

Founded in 1966 by Dr. Ernest Bueding, a pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins University, and a group of similarly dedicated music enthusiasts, SHCS set out to make an important contribution to the vitality of an already vibrant city. When flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal walked onto the stage of Shriver Hall for the first concert, more than 1,100 people witnessed the launch of what is now recognized as a remarkable success story: Shriver Hall Concert Series. In the succeeding years, SHCS has presented hundreds of acclaimed and emerging international artists in classical chamber music and recitals, and a legacy of important debuts and premieres. In addition, SHCS collaborates with local schools and subsidizes hundreds of student tickets each season.

The list of artists presented by SHCS is remarkable—Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Ewa Podlés, Maurizio Pollini, Jacqueline du Pré, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jordi Savall, András Schiff, Rudolf Serkin, Janos Starker, Daniil Trifonov, Lynn Harrell, Emanuel Ax, Alban Berg Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Cleveland Quartet, and Quartetto Italiano, among many others. SHCS also has a history of championing important musicians early in their careers, including Richard Goode, Hilary Hahn, Hélène Grimaud, Dawn Upshaw, Lang Lang, and the Emerson String Quartet. Commissioned composers include Timo Andres, Billy Childs, Sebastian Currier, Jonathan Leshnoff, James Lee III, Han Lash, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Caroline Shaw, Carlos Simon, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, and Nina C. Young.

Designed specifically for the community, SHCS offers the Discovery Series, a series of free concerts presented in venues throughout the region, focused on artists emerging on the national and international scene. Artists featured include Narek Hakhnazaryan, Colin Currie, Xavier Foley, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Eric Lu, and the Dover Quartet. SHCS also offers a variety of student programs.

For more information, visit www.shriverconcerts.org.

Shriver Hall Concert Series’ season is made possible through generous support from the Maryland State Arts Council, The Citizens of Baltimore County, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the William G. Baker Jr Memorial Fund, and the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust Fund.

Image at top of release provided by the artists.

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