About

Formed at the Glenn Gould School in 2016, the Ezra Duo (Jacob Clewell, viola and Sasha Bult-Ito, piano) quickly established itself as a performing ensemble of the highest caliber. The duo found themselves racking up a string of early performances, including Britten’s Lachrymae in a masterclass for violist Hsin-Yun Huang, and Hindemith’s rhapsodic Sonata Op. 11 no. 4 for the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and again in Mazzoleni Hall at the Royal Conservatory. Ezra appeared in Koerner Hall in Toronto with the same sonata in the spring of 2017, performing in a prelude concert for the Royal Conservatory Orchestra.
Together, they have played for Leon Fleisher, James Ehnes, Richard O'Neill, James Dunham, David Louie, and John Perry. They’ve represented the Glenn Gould School in an outreach recital for members of Baycrest Hospital, and were featured in a Koerner Hall postlude recital for Nicola Benedetti and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. In summer of 2017 Ezra appeared at the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, performing on the Young Artist recital Series.
Most recently, Ezra was announced the first prize winners of the Golden Classical Music Awards, Grand Prize Virtuoso competition, IMKA Music Competition, and the Art of Chamber Music competition. In November 2017 they made their first appearance in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Upcoming concerts feature a program highlighting women in music, including sonatas by Jennifer Higdon, Jean Coulthard, and Rebecca Clarke, among others, in a reengagement at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, as well as on recitals in Toronto and Halifax, and on a tour of the American South.

Music

Brahms: Sonata in Eb major
Britten: Lachrymae
Clarke: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Coulthard: Sonata-Rhapsody
Elgar: Chanson de Matin, Chanson de Nuit
Glazunov: Elegie
Granados: Orientale
Higdon: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Hindemith: Sonata Op. 11 no. 4
Kodaly: Adagio
Mozart: Divertimento (arr. Piatigorsky)
Piazzolla: Le Grande Tango (arr. Clewell)
Piazzolla: Oblivion
Schubert: Sonata in A minor, "Arpeggione"
C. Schumann: 3 Romances (trans. Clewell)
R. Schumann: Marchenbilder
Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Sibelius: Rondo for Viola and Piano
Vasks: Little Summer Music
Vieuxtemps: Elegie
Vieuxtemps: Sonata for Viola and Piano

Videos