The American Recital Debut Award presents Rainer Crosett

The American Recital Debut Award was created in 2023 to honor the legacy of the legendary American cellist Lynn Harrell. This award identifies a young musician who has the potential for a major career, and exemplifies the very same qualities Mr. Harrell displayed during his extraordinary career. This award was founded by Steinway Artist Victor Santiago Asunción who was Lynn’s pianist and sonata partner for over 20 years. The winners of this award have included John Henry Crawford, Gabriel Martins, and tonight’s debutante, Rainer Crosett.

Praised for his “tone that moves effortlessly between elegance and fire” (Westfälische Nachrichten), cellist Rainer Crosett is active as a chamber musician and soloist throughout Europe and North America. Winner of both the Pierre Fournier Award and the American Recital Debut Award, he has appeared in recitals at Wigmore Hall and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, and as soloist with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the Houston Symphony.

As a chamber musician, he has appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival, Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, Ravinia, Éole en Musiques, Presteigne Festival, Zürich Chamber Music Society, Music@Menlo, HearAndNow Festival Amsterdam, and La Jolla SummerFest, collaborating with artists such as Robert Levin, the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Anthony Marwood, Donald Weilerstein, and Kim Kashkashian. Other recent concert highlights include recitals at Bridgewater Hall, Oxford May Music, the International Cello Institute, the Romsey Chamber Music Festival, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts.

Rainer is also co-founder of Tonhain Kollektiv, a Berlin-based chamber music society acclaimed for its innovative programming, which made its Elbphilharmonie Hamburg debut in 2025. A passionate educator, he has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music (London) and the International Cello Institute. He also appears regularly as guest principal cellist with Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Oslo Philharmonic.

Hailed by The Washington Post for his “poised and imaginative playing,” Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion has appeared in concert halls in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey and the USA, as a recitalist and concerto soloist.  He played his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra, and his New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1999. In addition, he has worked with conductors including Sergio Esmilla, Enrique Batiz, Mei Ann Chen, Zeev Dorman, Arthur Weisberg, Corrick Brown, David Loebel, Leon Fleisher, Michael Stern, Jordan Tang, and Bobby McFerrin.

A chamber music enthusiast, he has performed with artists such as Lynn Harrell, Zuill Bailey, Andres Diaz, James Dunham, Antonio Meneses, Joshua Roman, Cho-Liang Lin, Giora Schmidt, the Dover, Emerson, Serafin, Sao Paulo, and Vega String Quartets. He was on the chamber music faculty of the Aspen Music Festival, and the Garth Newel Summer Music Festival.  He was also the pianist for the Garth Newel Piano Quartet for three seasons. Festival appearances include the Amelia Island, Highland-Cashiers, Music in the Vineyards, and Santa Fe.

His recordings include the complete Sonatas of L. van Beethoven with cellist Tobias Werner, Sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with cellist Joseph Johnson, the Rachmaninoff Sonata with the cellist Evan Drachman, and the Chopin and Grieg Sonatas, also with cellist Evan Drachman. He is featured in the award winning recording “Songs My Father Taught Me” with Lynn Harrell, produced by Louise Frank and WFMT-Chicago.  Mr. Asuncion is the Founder, and Artistic and Board Director of FilAm Music Foundation, a non-profit foundation that is dedicated to promoting Filipino classical musicians through scholarship, and performance.

He received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in 2007 from the University of Maryland at College Park under the tutelage of Rita Sloan. Victor Santiago Asuncion is a Steinway artist.