Utah Chamber Music Festival
2025

UCMF Artistic Director and Utah-native William Hagen has performed globally as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Highlights of his 2025/26 season include the a debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and a return appearance with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, and at venues like Wigmore Hall and the Louvre. His debut album, "Danse Russe," features pianist Albert Cano Smit. A native of Salt Lake City, he studied under Itzhak Perlman and Christian Tetzlaff. He performs on a 1732 Stradivari violin, generously loaned by the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation.

Irish violinist Mairéad Hickey has performed as a soloist with major orchestras including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and debuted at Carnegie Hall to critical acclaim. A passionate chamber musician, she has collaborated with renowned artists such as András Schiff and Steven Isserlis, and is Artistic Director of the Ortús Chamber Music Festival. Former concertmaster of the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Mairéad also plays traditional Irish music and has won eight world fiddle titles.

Romanian cellist Andrei Ioniță, praised by The Times as “one of the most exciting cellists to have emerged for a decade,” rose to international prominence after winning the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition. A BBC New Generation Artist (2016–2018), he has performed with leading orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony. Also an avid chamber musician, he appears regularly with artists like Martha Argerich and Steven Isserlis. Highlights of the 2024–25 season include debuts with the St. Louis Symphony and Santa Cecilia Orchestra. He plays a Filippo Fasser cello and records for Hänssler Classic.

American violist Natalie Loughran is the winner of the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, where she also received the Audience Award and BIPOC Composer Prize. She has performed at Marlboro, Yellow Barn, Kronberg, and Heidelberg Frühling, collaborating with artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, and Christian Tetzlaff. Also active as an orchestral musician, she has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. A Juilliard graduate, she currently studies at Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann.

A “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) with “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post), pianist Orion Weiss has appeared with major orchestras including the Chicago, Boston, and New York Philharmonics. He collaborates with artists like James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, and the Ariel and Pacifica Quartets, performing at leading venues worldwide. In 2025, Weiss released Arc III, the final installment of his acclaimed recital trilogy. This season includes performances at Wigmore Hall, David Geffen Hall, and international tours with violinists Ehnes and Akiko Suwanai. Weiss is a Juilliard graduate and Gilmore Young Artist Award winner.