18-year-old cellist Jan Vargas Nedvetsky presents a passionate interpretation of Judith Weir’s Unlocked No. 3 “The Wind Blow East”. This piece was inspired by American folk songs written by black prisoners in the 1930s. Jan’s playing is both haunting and hopeful in this contemplative performance.
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Wilmette, Illinois Jan appears on Show 459.
Cellist Jan Vargas Nedvetsky is a Richard D. Colburn Scholarship in Artistic Excellence Fellow at the Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago, and a scholarship holder at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein. He studies with Prof. Hans Jorgen Jensen and Oleksa Mycyk.
Jan has won numerous awards in solo and chamber competitions and soloed with orchestras in the US and Europe. He is a 2025 Presidential Scholar in the Arts Nominee, a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction, and a 2025 First Prize winner of DePaul National Concerto Competition. With Caspian String Quartet Jan won First Prizes in 2025 Rembrandt and Chicago National Chamber Music Competitions.
During the past summers Jan participated in Gstaad String Academy in Switzerland, Meadowmount School of Music, Musica Mundi International Festival in Belgium, and Chamber Music Intensive at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Jan is a founding member of Musicians for Hope, an organization supporting music education in Chicago public schools. Jan regularly performs in senior homes, schools, and houses of worship.
Jan is an incoming Cello Performance Major at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. In addition to performing and composing music, Jan pursues advanced studies in government and economics.
More information on janvargasnedvetsky.com.
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