Lauded as “vibrant” and “gifted” (Chicago Classical Review), Chicago-born Filipino-American cellist Ezra Escobar made his solo debut at age 16 with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago and has made solo appearances with the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Young Steinway Concert Series, Evanston Chamber Music Festival, Chicago Rush Hour Concerts, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Waukegan Chamber Music Society, the EstOvest Festival in Turin, Italy, and on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, as well as performances in collaboration with Victor Asuncion, Renaud Déjardin, Naomi Berrill, Francesco Dillon, Claudio Pasceri, kora virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko, activist music collective Sound Off, and noted jazz clarinetist Ken Peplowski.

Ezra has performed at venues such as Symphony Center in Chicago, Alice Tully Hall, Pritzker Pavilion, Ravinia Festival’s Bennett Gordon Hall, and Pick-Staiger Hall at Northwestern University, and has won top prizes at the DePaul Concerto Festival, the Chinese Fine Arts Society Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, the Royal College of Music Contemporary Competition, and the Walgreens National Concerto Competition.

Ezra’s compositions have been premiered at Symphony Center in Chicago, Bennett Gordon Hall at Ravinia Festival, the Royal College of Music, the Evanston Chamber Music Society, the Heifetz Institute, and the Ogle Center at Indiana University. Ezra is a resident artist of the Fil-Am Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting exceptional Filipino classical musicians through scholarship assistance and performance opportunities. With the Foundation, he has presented the U.S premieres of works by Filipino composers including Antonino Buenaventura, A.J Villanueva, Gabriel Mendoza, and National Artists of the Philippines for Music Lucrecia Kasilag & Lucio San Pedro.

Ezra studied at the Music Institute of Chicago before obtaining a BM at the Mannes School of Music and a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music. While at the RCM, he won top prizes in both cello and composition. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the RCM in the studio of Alexander Chaushian, and his primary teachers have been Tanya Carey, Marcy Rosen, and Hélène Dautry. Additional studies include lessons and master classes with Johannes Moser, Hans Jensen, Timothy Eddy, Marc Coppey, Colin Carr, Eric-Maria Couturier, Matt Haimovitz, Astrid Schween, & Denis Brott.