“Watch for great things in store for this rising cello virtuoso” -Chicago Classical Review
Jan Vargas Nedvetsky’s solo cello performances have captivated audiences across the United States and beyond and have earned praise from leading musicians and art organizations.
Born in Chicago, IL in 2006, Jan is a cello performance major at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University where he also studies history. Jan is a 2025 US Presidential Scholar in the Arts nominee and a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Cello Performance, the highest award of the National Young Arts Foundation. Additional accolades include prizes in national and international solo and chamber competitions, merit scholarships, and grants from preeminent art foundations.
Bringing live classical music performances to a variety of communities and expanding access to music education have been two of Jan’s central priorities as an engaged citizen musician. He performed solo recitals in remote communities, retirement homes, public schools, and places of worship across the United States and Europe. As a co-founder of the Musicians for Hope organization, Jan has participated in highly successful fundraising initiatives transforming music education opportunities in several Chicagoland public schools.
Jan studies cello performance with Professor Hans Jorgen Jensen and Oleksa Mycyk and has been honored to perform in masterclasses and learn from such artists and pedagogues as Jens Peter Maintz, Ivan Monighetti, Richard Aaron, Clive Greensmith, Jerome Pernoo, Ivan Karizna, Colin Carr, Jesse Montgomery, members of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, legendary musicians Menahem Pressler and Ivri Gitlis, and to perform under the baton of Marin Alsop. Jan has previously studied with Gilda Barston, Horacio Contreras, JiHee Kim, and Vladimir Perline.
Jan was featured on multiple occasions on WFMT Chicago Classical Radio, NPR, ABC TV, and Violin Channel. His anticipated solo recital on Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago, which will be broadcast live on WFMT radio, is scheduled for November of 2025.
In 2016-2021 Jan participated in Musica Mundi International Chamber Music Festival in Waterloo, Belgium. In the summers of 2022-2023 and 2025 Jan attended Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. In the summer of 2024 Jan took part in the Chamber Music Intensive program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and performed in the Gstaad Menuhin festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, as a fellow at the Gstaad Menuhin String Academy.
For additional information please visit https://janvargasnedvetsky.com/