In the Spring of 2019, cellist Sterling Elliott was awarded 1st prize in the Senior Division of the 22nd Annual Sphinx Competition. He was the youngest Finalist in the prestigious competition. In 2021, Elliott joined the ranks of performers Gil Shaham, Yuja Wang, and Demarre McGill when he became a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant. Now, he is the latest Performance Today Young Artist in Residence.

Sterling Elliott began playing cello at age three and got his start in his family’s ensemble, The Elliott Family String Quartet. Since that time, Elliott has performed worldwide with orchestras like the Sphinx Virtuosi, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Dallas Symphony, among others. Elliott is one of the youngest musicians to work as a sub for the New York Philharmonic.

Elliott is also an avid chamber performer who has appeared at such festivals as Chamberfest Cleveland, Music@Menlo, and Festival Mosaic. When he’s not performing or practicing, you might find him in the kitchen working on his plating skills or in his family’s garage building his latest race car.

Currently, Elliott is a Kovner Fellow at The Juilliard School, where he is pursuing his master of music degree studying with Joel Krosnick.  He completed his undergraduate degree in cello performance at Juilliard in May of 2021.

Elliott appears in these performances with collaborative pianist Luis Ortiz.