Jay Julio (they/them) 🇵🇭

It fills my heart to see the outpouring of love and celebration for the life of Karen Ritscher over the past days. We were joking at her bedside a few weeks ago about what her Times obit would say (and a few other things too — the story of how I got her apartment door knocked down by some strapping firefighters and she wouldn’t let me pay for the replacement!) Her presence is in literally every sound I make with my bow, which was hers and what she lent me to play on for many years while I couldn’t afford my own. Karen, from our first lessons when I started my BM with her at 16 through the messages and emails I continue to read and reread today, was and is synonymous with love, care, and generosity. And she cared so, so much — from her family members she helped raise, to loved ones back when HIV was a death sentence, to her viola family, to her 5Rhythms family, to a teenager fresh to classical music who maybe didn’t want to necessarily study with a woman they had never met, only ever read about, who nonetheless saw a “remarkable talent” in during a ten-minute MSM audition and wrote about in those first jury notes. She couldn’t have known then what she knew later: how I grew up, how the apartment she would often offer when I worried about not having a place to stay was larger than my childhood apartment for 3, that every free lesson she gave me was food on the table and rent I could pay. So many of us who studied with her have so many stories like this. (cont in comments)

LAst month in LA (I cannot believe March was just one month ago 😭) deeply appreciative to @madsfalcone @bosswitchproductions for having me once more in @charlesgainesstudio ’s Manifestos 6 LA premiere. @photobybaileyh took some lovely photos at our show, presented by @cap_ucla at the UCLA Nimoy Theater (complete with space age decor 🖖) started the trip with a visit to the @chapmanu viola studio taught by the wonderful Phillip Triggs courtesy of a referral by @e.kahng and a lovely @groupmuse while in town hosted by the Kahns again, this time with collaborator (and old roommate) @cathy.pianist ! spring szn almost over but still some shows to play as we move into May 🥰 calendar will be updated as events come in!

ok, THIS is the actual last post from tour 💀 @classicalipr has been so incredibly generous in covering me for over a decade now, from high school and this year in collaborating with @musichousemuseum1983 to present @joshtatsuocullen and I this past March. we were incredibly honored to have our performance of Astor Piazzolla’s “Le Grand Tango” chosen by @performancetoday for a feature this month. you can stream the live recording on their website and tune in to PT if you get it on your local classical radio station!

one last post from tour with @joshtatsuocullen :) we spent a day with Sergei Kvitko of @bluegriffinrecording at the tail end of our trip, and after several hours we thought just running the Astor Piazzolla “Le Gran Tango” one and a half times might give us some nice material to return to at a later date. here’s a bit of that ending section! we can’t wait to be back next year to perform and record once more. tomorrow afternoon at 1 pm I’ll be assisting @molly.yuko ring in a Lenten birthday concert at @marblechurchnyc in music of Bach, Purcell, and more Philly I’ll see lots of you next month with @blackpearlchamberorch April 3 and 4 in Vaughan-Williams plus @operaphila @operaphilamusicians April 22, 24, and 26 premiering “Sleepers Awake”

@joshtatsuocullen came to me last summer with a piece in mind for the tour we would eventually play together — @jamesleeiii_composer ’s Viola Sonata, written and premiered for the legendary Marcus Thompson. it had been performed in DC but hadn’t yet received premieres elsewhere, and we were honored to receive the composer’s blessing to give its first Midwest performances across Michigan and in Chicago on @classicalmusicchicago ’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. this explosive excerpt from the third movement was the first music both of us learned from it! Josh and spent several weeks sending each other recordings back and forth of each piece as I prepared the tour music from NYC and Philly and he did from his own tour with @beautymusical :) lots of metronome work!

a bit of @joshtatsuocullen and I’s Dame Myra Hess set, presented the other week by @classicalmusicchicago ! please enjoy just a bit of Rebecca Clarke’s beautiful ode to the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus 😴 can’t wait to plan even more in the coming months! stay tuned 📱

one last photo dump from the last days of tour! thank you again to everyone who came, tuned in, and supported from afar ❤️ @joshtatsuocullen and I are excited to do it again when we can & keep your eyes peeled for more info about next moves! please let us know if you’d like to collaborate on bringing us to your place 👀

already way behind on posts! here’s from day 3 & 4 of @joshtatsuocullen & Jay tour :) such joy to be presented by @classicalmusicchicago ’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Recital Series on Wednesday followed by a talk on @classicalipr coachings at @interlochenarts and @tcchs_trojans and a very meaningful show at the @musichousemuseum1983 where some very special guests surprised me 😭 more from yesterday and today soon & don’t miss our last show of this tour Chicago — see you tomorrow at the @haroldwashingtonlibrary , 2:30-4 PM!

Julio & Cullen Hess/ live concert drawing #drawing #livedrawing #watercolor #viola #piano

some pics from days 1 & 2 of tour with @joshtatsuocullen ! thank you to Prof. Cho and Prof. Swantek @gvsu @gvsumtd for entrusting us with your students on Monday and for hosting our first recital on this trip 😊 a pleasure to premiere @jamesleeiii_composer ’s Viola Sonata and the viola version of @cbryanmusic ’s Island Baby Reflections in Michigan, as well as my arrangement of Nicanor Abelardo’s Kundiman there! plus a special thank you to @adoboboygr for opening their doors for a private lunch — we’re so grateful to have had the chance to meet you and eat your delicious Filipino cooking in Grand Rapids 🇵🇭 and likewise to Prof. Case-Blanchard for allowing us to present the same program at @kellogg_community_college and to the @kzoolibrary Oshtemo Branch for having us again that same evening! we’re headed now to Traverse City and @interlochenarts for a very full day tomorrow after a delightful Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series recital hosted by @classicalmusicchicago — more soon 🥰

Violist Jay Julio @jay.julio and pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen @joshtatsuocullen performs this upcoming Wednesday! 📅 Wednesday at 12:15 PM 📍 Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist 🎟️ Free admission #ClassicalMusicChicago #nonprofitorganization #freethingstodoinchicago #seventeenthchurchofchristscientistchicago #classicalmusic

The Music House is proud to welcome violist Jay Julio and pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen Thursday, March 5th at 7:00PM After first meeting on tour with Broadway’s Hamilton, first-generation Filipino-American violist and Interlochen alum Jay Julio and Japanese-American pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen are taking the main stage in a duo tour highlighting music by diverse composers with ties to the United States. Tickets can be purchased at MyNorth Tickets, by going to musichouse.org or by calling 231-938-9300. We hope to see you there