American Recital Debut Award Announces 2025 Recipients

Cellists Gabriel Martins and Rainer Crosett have won the award recognizing their strong potential for performance careers

The American Recital Debut Award for outstanding emerging classical musicians was formed in 2023 by pianist Victor Santiago Asunción in honor of his longtime chamber music partner, the late cellist Lynn Harrell. 

As this year’s recipients, VC Artist Gabriel Martins and Rainer Crosett will both perform a recital at Carnegie Hall in the 2025/26 season, plus receive professional mentorship and concert engagements over three consecutive seasons. 

Martins’ accolades include the Concert Artists Guild/Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, the Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, and the David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal. 

He has also made debuts at Carnegie Hall, Kaufman Music Center, Wigmore Hall, 92nd Street Y, and in performances with orchestras across North and South America.

Beginning cello at age five, Martins is a graduate of USC’s Thornton School of Music and the New England Conservatory (NEC), studying with Ralph Kirshbaum and Laurence Lesser. He plays a c.1690 Francesco Ruggieri cello with a François Nicolas Voirin bow.

“I am deeply grateful to be the recipient of the American Recital Debut Award. To present a recital program at Carnegie Hall is a dream come true for any young artist, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity,” Martins said. “Additionally, it is a particularly special honor to share this recital with pianist Victor Santiago Asunción, and to be a part of the continuous legacy of his longtime recital partner Lynn Harrell, one of my great cello heroes.”

Crosett made his Wigmore Hall debut as the first American to win the Pierre Fournier Award, and gave his concerto debut in 2023 with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. 

Additionally, he has collaborated with leading composers such as Jörg Widmann and Lei Liang, and commissioned new chamber works from composers Eun Young Lee, William Cooper, Reinaldo Moya, and more. He is also co-founder of Tonhain Kollektiv, a concert series exploring the relationship between music and technology.

Crosett studied philosophy as part of the Harvard–NEC joint program before earning an Artist Diploma from USC Thornton and taking further studies at Berlin’s Universität der Künste. His principal mentors include Jens Peter Maintz, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Paul Katz.

“It is such an honor to receive the American Recital Debut Award,” Crosett shared. “To perform at Carnegie Hall is every musician's dream, and the wonderful pianist Victor Santiago Asunción will be the ideal collaborator. He and his duo partner, the late legendary cellist Lynn Harrell, have profoundly influenced me, especially in recent years after I discovered recordings of their live performances. Such nuance in duo playing is rare to hear, and the spontaneity and flexibility they achieved is something I continue to aspire to! I am profoundly grateful for the support of the award in making this next career step possible.”