Sphinx Virtuosi (Baltimore Debut)
Sterling Elliott, cello
The Yale Gordon Young Artist Concert
Location: Shriver Hall
SHCS’s 60th season opens with the pioneering Sphinx Virtuosi, an 18-member self-conducted string orchestra and flagship ensemble of the Sphinx Organization. With “immeasurable power, unwavering command, and soulful beauty” (The Washington Post) these masterful players make their Baltimore debut with a program devoted to peace and the resilience of the human spirit. Acclaimed young cellist Sterling Elliott joins as soloist for American composer’s William Grant Still’s Suite, inspired by Harlem Renaissance sculptures.
"True to their name, the Sphinx Virtuosi call up the vision of an iconic mythological feline with its immeasurable power, unwavering command, and soulful beauty." —The Washington Post
"Cellist Sterling Elliott held a full Severance Hall in his grasp." —The Cleveland Plain Dealer
About the sponsor
Yale Gordon first sponsored a concert by an accomplished young artist in 1978. The following year, his Yale Gordon Foundation made its initial contribution to Shriver Hall Concert Series. The Foundation eventually evolved into The Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust, which has been sponsoring annual Series concerts since 1986. The Yale Gordon Young Artist Concert features soloists or ensembles with great promise in the formative stages of their careers. Many of the artists who debuted at Shriver Hall through this concert have developed or already have international careers. The Board of Directors of the Series is deeply grateful to the Trust and its officials, Phyllis and Louis Friedman, and the late Sidney Sherr and Loraine Bernstein, for their warmly welcomed support and encouragement in making the Yale Gordon programs so successful over the years.
Sphinx Virtuosi
The Sphinx Virtuosi is a dynamic and inspiring professional self-conducted chamber orchestra and serves as the flagship performing entity of the Sphinx Organization - the leading non-profit dedicated to transforming lives through the power of the arts. Comprised of 18 accomplished Black and Latino artists who reflect the highest level of musicianship in America, a critical aim of the Sphinx Virtuosi is to evolve the breadth and impact of classical music through artistic excellence, pioneering programming, and impassioned community engagement. Its members serve as cultural ambassadors for audiences and communities around the United States and abroad.
Since 2004, the Sphinx Virtuosi's concerts have been presented by leading arts organizations, including annual return visits to Carnegie Hall as an established highlight of the fall season. Frequently selling out venues, the ensemble has garnered effusive accolades, including from The New York Times, which has described the group as "top-notch…more essential at this moment than ever…a vibrant, assured performance," and The Washington Post, which wrote "true to their name, the Sphinx Virtuosi call up the vision of an iconic mythological feline with its immeasurable power, unwavering command, and soulful beauty." Their debut album, Songs for Our Times, was released on Deutsche Grammophon in July 2023 and represents the rich history of the Sphinx Organization and the vibrant future of classical music by centering the artistry of extraordinary composers and artistic visionaries.
Their 2024-25 season included performances for Washington Performing Arts and the John F. Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Symphony Center Presents in Chicago, IL, and a return performance at the New World Symphony in Miami.
Heralded for its kaleidoscopically varied repertoire and bold thematic programming, Sphinx Virtuosi concerts give prominence to historically excluded composers such as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Alberto Ginastera, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Florence Price, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and George Walker. In an effort to expand its repertoire and engage new audiences, the ensemble commissions new works annually. Commissions have included major new works from Michael Abels, Terence Blanchard, Valerie Coleman, Xavier Foley, Ricardo Herz, Jimmy Lopez, Jessie Montgomery, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Carlos Simon.
Members of the Sphinx Virtuosi have performed as soloists with major American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. Members also hold professional orchestral and academic positions. The Sphinx Virtuosi's community engagement initiatives regularly extend beyond masterclasses and workshops to members leading community empowerment initiatives within arts organizations and connecting other Sphinx programming to further the mission of achieving excellence through inclusive programming. As a bilingual ensemble, these artist-citizens frequently break down existing barriers empowering the artform to connect with the broader community. During the pandemic, the ensemble found creative ways to connect with audiences and communities virtually through performances, panel discussions, masterclasses, Q&A sessions, and more reaching over 30,000 people across 20 organizations.
The Sphinx Virtuosi has collaborated with major artists such as Terence Blanchard, Denyce Graves, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Damien Sneed, Will Liverman, J'Nai Bridges, and Davóne Tines, among others. Outside of the classical realm, its musicians have also worked with leading international artists such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z and made high-profile appearances, including on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the broadcast of the 2022 GRAMMY Awards.
Sphinx Virtuosi Tours are made possible through the support of Robert F. Smith, JPMorgan Chase, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Learn more at www.sphinxmusic.org/sphinx-virtuosi.
The performance "opened with a propulsive, richly hued interpretation…which demonstrated the ensemble's polish and tonal allure." —The New York Times
Sterling Elliott
Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. Already in his young career, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, with noted conductors Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Thomas Wilkins, Jeffrey Kahane, Mei Ann Chen and others.
In the 2024/2025 season Sterling Elliott debuts with the Atlanta Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and returns to the Wilmington Symphony. He joins the Madison Symphony for the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Gil and Orli Shaham and returns to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Louis Langree.
As the YCAT–Music Masters Robey Artist with the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust he will Tour New Zealand in addition to appearances at Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and others. This season he also begins his tenure as a BBC New Generation Artist, and a three-year residency in the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center appearing with CMLSC at Alice Tully Hall and on tour throughout the U.S.
Sterling has a long history with the Sphinx Organization where he won the 2014 Junior Division Competition, becoming the first alumnus from the Sphinx Performance Academy to win the Sphinx Competition. Last season, Sterling received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization.
Sterling is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick and Clara Kim, following completion of his Master of Music and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America, a string sponsorship operated by Shar Music. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.
His website is sterlingelliott.com.
"Cellist Sterling Elliott held a full Severance Hall in his grasp." —The Cleveland Plain Dealer
