The Trout Quintet

The Trout Quintet, featuring violinist David Bernat, pianist Jiarong Li, violist Yuchen Lu, cellist Audrey Chen  and double bass Mark Bernat, will perform Schubert's Trout Quintet, perhaps the most famous and beloved chamber music works!

Violinist David Bernat leads a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, and artistic director. David’s recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, and Marlboro Music Festival. David has appeared as a soloist with the Brookline Symphony, Fort Dodge Symphony, and Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony and given recitals throughout the United States, Europe, and China. He holds the 2023-2025 Ensemble Connect Fellowship from Carnegie Hall/the Juilliard School. David received his Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory, and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School where he is currently a C.V Starr Doctoral Fellow. David recently joined the Formosa Quartet who serves as the faculty in residence at University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Chinese pianist Jiarong Li is an active chamber musician based in New York City and currently serves as a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Yale School of Music. She has won prizes at competitions including first prize in the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival and Summer Academy Competition, the Distinction Award of the Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, and was a finalist at New England Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition and semi-finalist at the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts International Concerto Competition. Jiarong holds a Master of Music in piano performance from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor's degree from Central Conservatory in Beijing. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in collaborative piano with an assistantship at Manhattan School of Music. 

Chinese violist Yuchen Lu has garnered international recognition for his unique artistry and virtuosity and for his passionate and musically compelling performances. Yuchen recently won the George and Elizabeth Gregory concerto competition at Mannes and won first-prize in the 2021 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and second prize in the 2019 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. He was a fellow at the Marlboro Music Festival, performing with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Mitsuko Uchida, Peter Wiley, and Joseph Lin. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree at the New England Conservatory as a student of Kim Kashkashian and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Carol Rodland. Yuchen is currently studying with Milan Milisavljević at the Mannes School of Music for his Professional Studies Diploma. 

Praised for her “lyricism of dramatic intensity” and “longevity of phrasing”, Washington state native and cellist Audrey Chen has performed around the world in venues including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Audrey is currently the cellist of the prize-winning Terra String Quartet, based in New York City. Audrey’s festival appearances include performing at Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Perlman Music Program, and Tanglewood Music Center. She received her B.A. from Harvard University and an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, where her teachers included Laurence Lesser and Lluis Claret. Currently, she is pursuing a D.M.A. at the CUNY Graduate Center under Marcy Rosen while teaching chamber music at CUNY Hunter College. She was named a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. 

Mark Bernat has led an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Trained at the Juilliard School, Mr. Bernat held positions with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Jerusalem Symphony under Lukas Foss. He has served as a faculty member at the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Texas-Austin. His won first prize in the Juilliard Double Bass Competition and the Bloch Competition and has performed in recital at venues including at Carnegie Recital Hall and London’s Purcell Room. His transcriptions of major works for the double bass, published by International Music Company, have greatly expanded the solo repertoire for double bass. In 2021, he was recruited back to the University of Texas-Austin to establish a music program at Dell Seton Medical Center and currently serves as Music Program Coordinator in the College of Natural Sciences.