Duo Calisto: Jules Biber, cello; Danielle Buonaiuto, voice
Program: Duo Calisto explores contemporary repertoire for soprano and cello, highlighting compositions by women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ composers, including composers Jessie Montgomery, Heather Gilligan, and arrangements by the duo. Pianist Yalin Chi joins for works by Ned Rorem, Francis Poulenc, and Claude Debussy.
Artist Biographies: Jules Biber is a cellist, educator and musical curator based in Brooklyn, NY. An accomplished chamber musician and soloist, Jules’ versatility in early, standard and modern repertoire, as well as non-classical styles, makes her sought-after for a variety of high-profile concerts and recording projects, and her deep commitment to inclusive community has made her one of the city’s progressive curators of classical music spaces.
Jules believes strongly in creating environments for classical music that are free from the concert hall’s antiquated aesthetics. Her first series, Classical at Pete’s at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg (later Branded Classical at Branded Saloon), created a platform for performers and composers to present their work with the freedom to experiment, in an environment that was equally welcoming to the listener. Classical at Pete’s/Branded Classical was home to a wide variety of performers, including members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2019, Jules co-founded ChamberQUEER, an LGBTQ+ chamber music organization devoted to presenting and performing queer composers and musicians and highlighting historical queer figures in classical music. Based in Brooklyn, NY, it is in its third season of events serving the greater NYC community by creating an alternative, inclusive space within the classical music scene, supported in part by the Brooklyn Arts Fund and New Music USA. It has received write-ups in the New Yorker and New Music Box, and been presented by Death of Classical, WQXR at the Greene Space, Boulanger Initiative, and Brooklyn Pride.
Equally experienced on mainstream stages, Jules has played with the New Jersey Symphony, PUBLIQuartet, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, and has been heard in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Greene Space, and Zankel Hall.
Jules regularly makes appearances on more intimate series around NYC such as at Barbes, NY Cello Society, Music in Midtown, Con Vivo Music, and Green-Wood Cemetery with Death of Classical. She is a regular presence on the Broadway circuit, playing in the pit orchestras for Tootsie, Oklahoma, and Beetlejuice.
Jules has toured, performed, arranged and recorded with folk and rock groups in NYC and beyond, including Susan Werner, Erin McKeown, Peter Yarrow, Portland Cello Project, Girlyman, Edison Woods, Natalia Zukerman, and Cat Martino, and has been heard on WQXR, WNYC Soundcheck, WFUV and WUMB, among others.
Chamber music is Jules’ favorite music to play, and she does as much of it as possible. She was a founding cellist of the Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in 2012, where she was the cellist-in-residence until 2017, bringing chamber music to the greater Jamaica, Vermont community. She was also a founding member of the Toronto-based Elixir Quartet, a string quartet dedicated to the performance of the great string quartet repertoire on period instruments. She recently began a duo collaboration with soprano Danielle Buonaiuto, Duo Calisto, focusing on developing and commissioning new repertoire for cello and voice.
Jules has participated in music festivals at Kneisel Hall, Taos School of Music, Tanglewood and Banff Centre. Primary teachers have included Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Barbara Stein-Mallow at the Mannes College of Music, Julia Lichten at Purchase College and Marcy Rosen at the Graduate Center at CUNY. Jules received her DMA from the CUNY Graduate Center, where her dissertation, published in 2016, focused on the 10 Etudes for Solo Cello by Sofia Gubaidulina. She currently serves on the music faculty at Hunter College.
Danielle Buonaiuto’s performances have been praised for their “terrific clarity and color” (Baltimore Sun), her “entrancing and fluid” singing (DC Metro Theatre Arts), and her “ethereal vocals” that reveal “exquisite vocal technique and luscious colors” (OperaWire).
After making her symphonic debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2011, she has appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the orchestras of the Caramoor Festival, Peninsula Music Festival, and Lucerne Festival Academy.
Danielle maintains an active freelance schedule, presenting art song, performing chamber music, and appearing as soloist with symphonies and choirs throughout the United States and Canada. Though an accomplished performer of standard repertoire, she primarily focuses on working with contemporary composers, especially in commissioning new pieces and cultivating emerging composers. She has premiered over sixty songs, and has premiered roles in six operas.
Danielle has received grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council, New Music USA, and the Peabody Conservatory, and has held fellowships at the Lucerne Festival, Bang on a Can at Mass MOCA, and Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
Danielle is driven by values of community, access, inclusion, and compassion. Reflecting her passion for storytelling through song, she has built a multifaceted career designed to maximize impact in intimate performances within her community. Her special interest in art song has led to recital programs at the Wright Theater in Baltimore and the Old Stone House in Brooklyn, among others, featuring the work of local composers and poets.
Canadian-born, she resides in Brooklyn.