Born and raised in Colorado, violinist Joanna Maurer has performed as a soloist, recitalist, chamber and orchestral musician throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Italy. She has been featured countless times on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and on local radio stations throughout the United States. Ms. Maurer has been hailed by the Washington Post as an “incisive, sweet-toned” violinist with “flawless phrasing,” leading “extraordinary… stunning…(and) …utterly committed” performances as violinist of the American Chamber Players.

Since 2003, Ms. Maurer has performed as an Associate Musician in the first violin section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She also performs with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), the Lincoln Center Festival Orchestra (formerly Mostly Mozart), the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival and as concertmaster on numerous film scores, television scores, and studio albums.

After initial studies with her parents, James and Jacqueline Maurer, Ms. Maurer received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at The Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Robert Mann. She has won first prizes in a number of competitions, including the Aspen Music Festival’s E. Nakamichi Violin Competition, and the National MTNA Selmer Competition.

Passionate about protecting the work of musicians, Ms. Maurer serves as the co-chair of the Associate Musicians of the Metropolitan Opera, the secretary of the Recording Musicians Association - New York, and the 2nd vice president of the Recording Musicians Association - International.

Praised by the New York Times for his “…smooth, luxuriant tone,” cellist Alberto Parrini is an Associate Musician with the Metropolitan Opera and a member of the American Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He performs regularly with East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Lenape Chamber Ensemble, Lighthouse Chamber Players, Richardson Chamber Players, New Jersey Symphony and New York Philharmonic.

As principal cellist of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic (2007 -2023), he was a featured soloist in concertos by Brahms, Haydn, Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky. With the Zukofsky Quartet he has given performances of the complete string quartets of Milton Babbitt in New York and Chicago. He has performed throughout the United States with the American Chamber Players, as the cellist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet for a season and as assistant principal with the Richmond Symphony.

Mr. Parrini has toured North America, Europe and Asia with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project and performed with Arco Ensemble, Concertante, Continuum, Mark Morris Dance Group, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Mirror Visions, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Proteus Ensemble and Sinfonietta of Riverdale.

His principal teachers were Timothy Eddy, Joel Krosnick, David Soyer, Colin Carr and Enrico Egano. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School.

Mr. Parrini served as co-director of the Adult Chamber Music Workshop at Kinhaven (2014-2024) and teaches cello and chamber music at Princeton University.

Critically acclaimed pianist and winner of "Ettore Pozzoli" International Piano Competition in Italy, Anna Stoytcheva has appeared throughout North America, Europe and Japan and has recorded two solo albums.

“Ms. Stoytcheva is an artist of exceptional gifts. She brings to her performance imagination, intelligence, rhythmic vitality, lyricism, tenderness and poetry. But always, from the first note to the last, she was a servant to the music…” (Southampton Press)

“Stoytcheva’s tonal palette was a whirl of fabulous colors. Her agility was stunning at lighting speed” (Coral Gables Gazette)

As a soloist with orchestra, Ms. Stoytcheva has performed with Orchestra del'Angelicum in Milano, The Juilliard Orchestra in New York, The New World Symphony in Miami, The New Symphony Orchestra and National Radio Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria, Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra and Varna Festival Orchestra in Varna, Bulgaria.

Ms. Stoytcheva loves performing chamber music and has collaborated with many distinguished artists, such as members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and several Young Concert Artists winners. She has been a fellow at the New World Symphony and has attended the music festivals Marlboro, Classical Tahoe, Music Academy of the West, Banff, Pianofest, Bowdoin and Kneisel Hall. Currently the co-chair of Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York series, she has also been a member of the American Chamber Players ensemble since 2007.

Ms. Stoytcheva holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance from The Juilliard School. Her teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Veda Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Julia Ganeva and Lidia Kuteva.

The Salix Piano Trio was founded in New York City in 2023 by longtime friends and colleagues — violinist Joanna Maurer, cellist Alberto Parrini, and pianist Anna Stoytcheva — out of a desire to explore the rich and vast piano trio canon.

For the past 20+ years, Maurer, Parrini and Stoytcheva have performed and toured together around the United States in different combinations, notably as members of the American Chamber Players. Their extraordinary, dynamic performances have been enthusiastically praised: “a stunning performance (by Maurer and Stoytcheva) that…turned what might have been just an entertaining evening into a must-hear musical event.” (Washington Post) ; “…Maurer and Parrini delivered an outstanding performance; their virtuosic technique and acute sense of pathos helped energize the audience …” (Palm Beach Daily News)

They have always found great joy in crafting musical ideas together, appreciating the ease in which their concepts of sound and interpretation align. Reconnecting as a trio has enabled the artists to weave their deeply expressive, graceful and passionate styles together in a more intimate combination.

Since their founding, the Salix Piano Trio has performed on the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York series, including the Opening Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in October 2023 among other venues.

The name Salix comes from the group’s mutual love for the graceful and poetic weeping willow tree (salix babylonica).