Gabriel Martins has been recognized with the Concert Artists Guild/Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal, International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians Silver Medal, Schadt String Competition Gold Medal, Orford Music Award, and the Prague Spring Czech Music Fund Prize. He has debuted at the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and São Paulo Symphony, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Merkin Hall, 92NY, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

Classic FM named Mr. Martins one of their “30 under 30” Rising Stars and he has been broadcast on NPR, WQXR, KUSC, and WFMT, among others. His festival appearances include Aspen, Bard, Brevard, Chamberfest Cleveland, Four Seasons, Ravinia, and Yellow Barn.

Born of American and Brazilian heritage, Mr. Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He began playing the cello when he was five, studying with Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy. He went on to receive his BM as a presidential scholar at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, studying with Ralph Kirshbaum. In his freshman year at USC, he won the school’s concerto competition as well as its Bach competition. He received his MM at the New England Conservatory of Music with Laurence Lesser. He now resides in South Carolina with his partner, violinist Geneva Lewis. In addition to performing, he also composes, arranges, and teaches. He plays a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello made in Cremona, ca. 1690, and a François Nicolas Voirin bow made in Paris, ca. 1880.

Victor Santiago Asunción has appeared at concert halls in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Japan, and Philippines as a recitalist and soloist. He made his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra and his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

As a chamber musician, he has performed with Lynn Harrell, Zuill Bailey, Andres Diaz, James Dunham, Antonio Meneses, Joshua Roman, Cho-Liang Lin, Giora Schmidt, the Dover Quartet, and Emerson String Quartet. He was on the chamber music faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and the Garth Newel Summer Music Festival, where he was a member of the Garth Newel Piano Quartet for three seasons.

Mr. Asunción’s recordings include the complete Beethoven cello sonatas with Tobias Werner, cello sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with Joseph Johnson, and the Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Grieg cello sonatas with Evan Drachman. He is featured in the award-winning recording Songs My Father Taught Me with Lynn Harrell. Mr. Asunción is the founder, artistic director, and board director of FilAm Music Foundation, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting Filipino classical musicians through scholarships and performances. He received his DMA from the University of Maryland at College Park and is a Steinway artist.