Deux Violons

Maya Ito Johnson is currently pursuing a M.M.A. in Violin Performance at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Tai Murray. She earned a B.M. and M.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Ilya and Olga Kaler. At CIM, she served in many leadership roles, including concertmaster under the direction of Leonard Slatkin at Severance Hall. She has most recently been appointed associate concertmaster of the Savannah Philharmonic led by Keitaro Harada. Maya is also passionate about early music and has collaborated with the CWRU Historical Performance Program for many years under the guidance of Julie Andrijeski and Jaap ter Linden. During her time in Cleveland, she performed with Apollo’s Fire as a young artist apprentice, including in their thirtieth anniversary concert at Severance Hall.

Award-winning violinist Daniel S. Lee enjoys a varied career as a soloist, leader, collaborator, and educator. Praised by The New York Times for his “ravishing vehemence” and “soulful performance,” he has appeared as a soloist and leader with early music ensembles in the United States and Europe. Lee is a core violinist and the founding director of the Sebastians, a critically acclaimed period ensemble. A piccolo violin specialist, he has performed as a soloist in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and Cantata 140 (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme) and given the modern-day premiere of his own transcription of Johann Pfeiffer’s concerto. At the Yale School of Music, Lee teaches baroque violin lessons, coaches chamber ensembles, and co-teaches the class “Rhetoric and Early Instrumental Performance” with faculty harpsichordist Arthur Haas.