About
Duo Parnas is the critically acclaimed collaboration of two sisters, violinist Madalyn Parnas and cellist Cicely Parnas. This musical partnership established between sisters has captivated audiences across the globe in the world’s most prestigious music venues, festivals, recitals, and as soloists with countless orchestras. In 2008, ten years after their early childhood debut, they solidified their presence on the world’s stage by taking First Prize at the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition held in Carnegie Hall, releasing their first album Parnas Double, and collaborating with the great artist Peter Serkin in the Parnas/Serkin Trio.
Critical response has affirmed their musical artistry on an international level. The New York Times has described their performances as “stunning” and “electrifying,” highlighting their “account of Martinu’s lively, sometimes prickly Duo for Violin and Cello” for its “intricate give-and take between the cello and violin lines [that] was perfectly balanced and suffused with…electricity and drama.” A performance at the Kennedy Center earned Duo Parnas the Washington Post headline “Duo Parnas faultless to a fault!” in a glowing review by renowned cellist and writer, Robert Battey.
Duo Parnas has toured as guest soloists with the French L’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, the New York String Alumni Orchestra under the baton of Jaime Laredo, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, and many others. While artists-in-residence at the El Paso Pro-Musica Festival, they performed as soloists with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.
The sisters of Duo Parnas have been invited performers and featured artists for influential music festivals and concert series around the world. Most recently they appeared on the Shriver Hall Concert Series' Discovery Series in Baltimore, presenting pillars of the repertoire, Ravel Sonate and Kodaly Duo, as well as an original arrangement of Bach's Double Violin Concerto. With pianist Ran Dank they performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Tannery Pond Concerts in the Berkshires. Alongside cellist Zuill Bailey, they appeared in numerous concerts and recitals as artists-in-residence for the Sitka Music Festival. Selected American festival appearances include Tanglewood, Maverick Concerts, Music Mountain, American Composers Festival, and Composers Now!. International music festival appearances include the Shanghai Musical Arts Festival and Macao International Music Festival; Banff and Lachine Music Festivals and Bravo! Music Series in Canada; and the ProQuartet Festival in France.
Recording for Sheffield Lab, Duo Parnas has released three CDs: Parnas Double (2008), Gare du Nord (2010), and duo parnas NOW (2014). NOW comprises pre-existing works as well as commissions by living composers such as William Bolcom, Charles Wuorinen, Paul Moravec, and Lera Auerbach, thus allowing for collaboration between the composer and artists. On The Other Side of Time (Albany Records, 2012), the duo performs Brian Fennelly’s double concerto, Fantasia Concertante, with the New Music Ensemble of Indiana University.
In addition to their demanding schedule as musical partners, Madalyn and Cicely have developed active solo performance careers in their own right. Madalyn has performed as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Cicely is a winner of the Young Concert Artists (YCA) Auditions. Madalyn performs on a 1715 Alessandro Gagliano violin, and Cicely on a 1712 Giovanni Grancino cello. They are the granddaughters of the legendary cellist Leslie Parnas.