Delaware County Symphony
Sebastian Grand, Music Director
2025-2026 SOLOISTS
Pianist Clare Longendyke is a soloist, chamber musician, and passionate advocate for new music with “an artistic ferocity that captivated and astonished listeners” (Waverly Newspapers). She brings daring repertoire, curiosity, and thoughtful storytelling to the concert stage, with a gift for weaving together contemporary works and classical favorites. Her performances are notable for bringing together technical excellence, artistry, and her charismatic stage presence in unique and imaginative programs. Among her recent successes are her sold-out Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall debut, reaching #2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart, and performing the world premieres of two new concertos on a single program.
A fearless supporter for the music of our time, as well as works by female and marginalized composers, Clare curates programs that pair beloved composers of the past—such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Amy Beach—with living voices shaping the future of classical music. She has commissioned more than 30 new works and performed more than 250 world premieres, collaborating closely with composers to create music that reflects the complexity and diversity of our time.
Her debut solo album, …of dreams unveiled, featured music by Claude Debussy, Amy Williams, and Anthony R. Green, and hit #2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. It was praised as “a work of remarkable pianistic invention” (The WholeNote), “delightfully daring,” and “a CD that should not be missed” (EarRelevant). Released in 2024, the recording has been lauded by music critics across North America. Her next album, scheduled for release in 2027, will include solo piano works by Amy Beach, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Numerous other albums on the Navona label feature Clare as a chamber musician, and an upcoming recording of new solo piano works by living American composer David Colson, performed by Clare, will be released on the Blue Griffin label.
Clare’s 2026-27 season features a robust schedule of recitals, chamber music, and orchestral appearances, including performances in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Carolina. Her upcoming release of Alice Mary Smith’s Concertino for piano and orchestra with the Missouri Symphony will be the World Premiere recording, scheduled for release on the Azika label. She will also serve on the faculty of the Third Coast Chamber Collective in Minnesota in June 2026.
Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra (two world premieres of new piano concerti by South Bend area composers), Symphony New Hampshire, the Danville Symphony (Illinois), and the Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective; and recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Schubert Club of Minnesota, University of Chicago Presents, Saugatuck Center for the Arts (Michigan) and The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (Twin Cities). She has also appeared as a soloist with the Mankato Symphony, Rochester Symphony, Symphonicity, and Oak Ridge Symphony, and her playing has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today.
Clare has lived and studied on both American coasts and abroad, earning degrees from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts (BM) and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (MM, DM). An ardent Francophile and fluent French speaker, she received the Fulbright–Harriet Hale Woolley Award in the Arts to study at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. She has served as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and continues to engage deeply with communities as a performer, educator, and advocate for equity on the classical concert stage.
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Whether from the stage or in conversation, Clare invites audiences into the heart of her artistry—one that builds bridges between tradition and transformation and brings the concert experience vividly to life.
Clare Longendyke
Junwen Liang
Described by Richard Goode as “a very gifted pianist and a musician of great sensitivity,” Chinese pianist Junwen Liang has earned recognition for performances of poetic refinement and intellectual depth. Stroll Magazine praised his “captivating” artistry, while New York Concert Review described him as “an extremely gifted and promising young artist.” The American Prize commended his playing as “subtle, refined, and beautifully executed,” and In the Spotlight affirmed that he is “ready for a major career.”
Junwen has appeared as soloist with the Central Texas Philharmonic, Penn State Philharmonic, and Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, with performances broadcast on WRTI Classical, WSKG, and KPR Public Radio. Equally accomplished in chamber music, he was named “Outstanding Collaborative Pianist” at the Peabody Institute and received the Clara Ascherfeld Award in Accompanying. He was subsequently invited, alongside fellow Peabody musicians, to appear at Carnegie Hall’s Master Class Series in collaboration with Ludwig Quandt of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and in 2024 participated in the Puccini Concert Project at NYU Casa Italiana, presented in partnership with the Festival Puccini Torre del Lago.
Since 2023, Junwen has established himself as a distinctive recital voice, presenting more than 35 performances during the 2024/25 season across North America and China. He has appeared in prominent series including Arts Club of Washington, Sunday Recital Series at Saint Thomas (New York), Trinity Concert Series, Sevenars Music Festival, Fripp Island Friends of Music, Saugerties Pro Musica, Chamber On The Mountain, and Boston Court Pasadena, alongside university residencies throughout the United States and China. The 2025/26 season brings engagements across the United States as well as international debuts in France, Canada, and China. His debut EP Colombine, featuring works by Amy Beach and Florence Price, was released in June 2026 through the California-based Manus imprint and is available on major digital streaming platforms worldwide. He is also currently preparing his debut full-length album with Sheva Collection in collaboration with Naxos of America, Inc.
A recent graduate of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Richard Goode, Junwen is based in Philadelphia and teaches piano and chamber music at the University of Pennsylvania. He is represented worldwide by Price Attractions.
Gabriel Martins
Gabriel Martins (b. 1998) is an American concert cellist. He gained recognition after winning both the Sphinx Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Competition in 2020. In 2022, he was invited to make his New York recital debut on short notice, stepping in for Steven Isserlis in a program of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites at the 92nd Street Y. The performance was praised by The Strad Magazine as “flawlessly played" and "a deeply moving experience”. Since then, his career has continued to grow, with debuts at Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), Maison Symphonique (Montréal), Wigmore Hall (London), and with the Alabama, Allentown, Arkansas, Auburn, Augusta, Duluth-Superior, DuPage, Elgin, Houston, Indianapolis, Greensboro, Memphis, Mid-Atlantic, Omaha, Pacific, Phoenix, Santa Fe, São Paulo, Sedona, South Florida, Tallahassee, and Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestras. In 2025, he gave his first tour of Asia, with recitals in Bangkok, Chiayi, Manila, Taipei, and Tokyo.
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Martins’ musical approach has been described as “a rare combination of intellectual clarity, emotional depth, and genuine humility,” and as that of “an artist grounded not in performance bravado, but in an unwavering commitment to honoring the music itself” (Cultural Attaché). His focus on the music of Bach culminated in his 2024 debut recording of the complete Cello Suites, followed in 2025 by the Violin Sonatas and Partitas in his own arrangements for cello. His performances have been broadcast on NPR, WQXR, KUSC, and WFMT, and his festival appearances include Aspen, Bard, Blairsville, Brevard, ChamberFest Cleveland, Four Seasons, La Jolla, Mainly Mozart, Ravinia, Sitka, and Yellow Barn. Among his additional honors are prizes at the David Popper International Cello Competition, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, the Prague Spring International Music Competition, the Schadt String Competition, the Orford Music Award, and the American Recital Debut Award. In 2022 he was named to Classic FM's "30 under 30" list.
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Born to Brazilian and American parents, Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He began studying the cello at age five with Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy. He earned his Bachelor of Music as a Presidential Scholar at the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Ralph Kirshbaum, and won both the school’s concerto and Bach competitions in his freshman year. He completed his Master of Music at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser. Martins now resides in Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to performing, he composes and teaches. He performs on a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello made in Cremona, c. 1690, and a François Nicolas Voirin bow made in Paris, c. 1880.