Lyra festival artists are among the most inspiring
classical musicians in the world today
MEET OUR DISTINGUISHED
2026 FESTIVAL ARTISTS
Guest Artists
Photo Credit: Marco Borggreve
Praised by The Strad as an “utterly dazzling” artist, with “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” (New York Classical Review), violinist Danbi Um captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. A Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist and winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, she showcases her artistry in concertos, solo recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians.
Known for her "virtuoso interpretations that evoke the grace and depth of a musical Golden Age" by the Strings Magazine, Ms. Um's recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), Ridgewood Symphony, and her Washington D.C.'s recital debut at the Phillips Collection. This season will also see Ms. Um's return to People's Symphony, Saratoga Performing Arts (SPAC), Santa Fe, North Shore Music Festivals, as well as La Musica Festival (Sarasota).
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Um returns to Chamber Music San Francisco, the Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for both national and international tours. Ms. Um's chamber music collaborators have included Anthony Marwood, Vadim Gluzman, Pamela Frank, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, David Finckel, David Shifrin, Wu Han, and Gilbert Kalish. A recording artist for Avie Records, Ms.Um's debut album, Much Ado: Romantic Violin Masterworks, was released worldwide in fall of 2023. Her second album is slated for release in February 2025.
In 2018, Ms. Um made her New York recital debut at Lincoln Center presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. After winning the 2014 Music Academy of the West Competition, Ms. Um made her concerto debut in the Walton Violin Concerto with the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Joshua Weilerstein. Past concerto engagements include appearances with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, and the Dartmouth Symphony. She also recently appeared in recital and in chamber music performances in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harris Theatre in Chicago, Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Born in 1990 in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Um began violin lessons at the age of three. In the year 2000, she moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Her teachers have included Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, and Hagai Shaham. Ms. Um is a winner of Astral Artists’ National Auditions. She plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
Cellist Raman Ramakrishnan enjoys performing chamber music, old and new, around the world. For two decades, as a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and the Daedalus Quartet, he toured extensively through North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records, including, most recently, the complete piano trios of Robert Schumann. Mr. Ramakrishnan is currently an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, and is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Ramakrishnan has given solo recitals in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and has performed at Caramoor, at Bargemusic, with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Bard, Charlottesville, Four Seasons, Kingston, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, Portland, Skaneateles, and Vail Music Festivals. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed, as guest principal cellist, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt. He has served on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall, Norfolk, and Taconic Chamber Music Festivals, as well as in the Music Performance Program of Columbia University.
Mr. Ramakrishnan was born in Athens, Ohio and grew up in East Patchogue, New York. His father is a molecular biologist and his mother is the children's book author and illustrator Vera Rosenberry. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in music from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers have been Fred Sherry, Andrés Díaz, and André Emelianoff. He lives in New York City with his wife, the violist Melissa Reardon, and their young son. He plays a Neapolitan cello made by Vincenzo Jorio in 1837.
Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
Praised as “a moving young poet” (Le Devoir), Spanish-Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit is building a rapidly growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Winner of the 2019 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and the 2017 Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition, Cano Smit is renowned for his captivating performances, storytelling artistry, and nuanced musicality.
He has appeared as soloist with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Montréal Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Catalonia National Orchestra, and Manchester Camerata, among others, with upcoming concerto engagements with the Colorado Symphony and Virginia Symphony. His collaborations have included conductors such as Andrew Grams, Katharina Wincor, Pablo Rus Broseta, Ryan Bancroft, and Stephanie Childress.
Recital highlights include debuts at Carnegie Hall presented by The Naumburg Foundation and at Merkin Hall with Young Concert Artists, as well as performances at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música, and the Miami International Piano Festival.
A passionate chamber musician, Cano Smit performs regularly with flutist Anthony Trionfo, and has partnered with violinists Paul Huang and William Hagen, with whom he recorded the album Danse Russe. His debut solo recording of Bach’s Art of the Fugue was released on Aparté in March 2025 to critical acclaim, earning five Diapasons from Diapason Magazine.
Born in Geneva, he began his musical training at the Escolanía de Montserrat before studying piano with Graham Caskie, Marta Karbownicka, and Ory Shihor. He holds degrees from the Colburn School and The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert McDonald, receiving the 2020 Rubinstein Prize for Piano and completing an Artist Diploma.