Andrew Janss, cellist, performs with Escher String Quartet

Andrew Janss, formerly of Thousand Oaks, will play his antique cello with the Escher String Quartet during the Ventura Music Festival Rising Stars concert on May 10.

Janss plays a historic 1790 Pietro Pelota cello. He began studying cello at the age of 10 with cellist and educator Andrew Cook.

Janss was a student at Viewpoint School in Calabasas and played cello with the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles. He has performed as a soloist with the New West Symphony, Astoria Symphony Orchestra, Conejo Concerto Orchestra, Gold Coast Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, Valley Symphony and CSUN Youth Orchestras.

Recent solo engagements have included appearances with the Astoria Music Society and New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and a recital debut at Riverside Church in New York City.

Janss was a top prize-winner in the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition and received the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Prize six times. In 2004, he was chosen to represent the Manhattan School of Music in a master class hosted by Bernard Greenhouse for the Violoncello Society.

As a student at the Manhattan School of Music, he studied cello with David Geber, chamber music with Sylvia Rosenberg and David Soyer, and was principal cellist of both the Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras. He graduated in May 2006 with the Hugo Kortschak Award for Excellence in Chamber Music.

The Escher String Quartet is comprised of cellist Janss, violinists Adam Barnett-Hart and Wu Jie, and violist Pierre Lapointe. The Rising Stars Concert Series introduces the Escher String Quartet and Sean Chen in a special one-night only performance at 7:30 p.m. Thurs., May 10 at the First United Methodist Church, 1385 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura.

Tickets are $20 and $10.

For more information or tickets, call the festival offices at (805) 648-3146 or visit www.venturamusicfestival.org.