UC Davis Announces Artist-in-Residence for 2025/26 Season

The Canadian cello-marimba duo Stick&Bow will undertake the residency

The Canadian cello and marimba duo Stick&Bow, which comprises cellist Juan Sebastian and marimba player Krystina Marcoux, has been named the Artist-in-Residence at UC Davis for the 2025/26 season.

Formed in Montreal, the duo was named Artists of the Year and received the prize for International Outreach at the Opus Awards for the 2022/23 season. They have become known for their original arrangements, which present popular works in a new light for an unique ensemble combination.

The pair have presented works by Luis Naon, Camille Pépin, Luna Pearl Woolf, Jason Noble, Anna Pidgorna, and Marcelo Nisinman, among others.

Stick&Bow has toured extensively, including a 40-date tour of France with Jeunesses Musicales France presenting their animated show Bavela (2022), as well as at the prestigious Montreal Bach Festival and the Festival du Bout du Monde (Gaspésie). They have also represented Quebec at the Semaine de la Francophonie (2023) in Colombia, and in 2023 they undertook a 25-concert tour of France.

"We have been honored as Artist in Residence for next season at the UCDavis University in California!" the duo wrote on social media. "We’ll be working with composers on new works written for us, while also coaching students on chamber music. A very exciting experience and a fantastic way to keep on building an exciting body of repertoire for marimba and cello!"

"It’s almost strange to post happy news lately because times are very hard, but we try to look…on the positive side while remembering that art brings hope, moments of tenderness and questioning."

You can hear the duo performing music by Piazzolla below.