Known for their vibrant, high-level performances and progressive programming, New York-based duo AYANE & PAUL bring a fresh perspective to the viola/cello combination via thoughtfully-crafted sonorities and inspired musicianship. The duo formed in 2014, after Ayane Kozasa commissioned Paul Wiancko to compose a work for viola and cello. The resulting piece, “American Haiku,” explored Ayane's background as a Japanese artist growing up in the United States as well as Paul's Japanese-American heritage. Over the course of the collaboration, the two discovered a musical bond and a penchant for connecting with listeners on and off the stage.

Since premiering “American Haiku” at the S&R Foundation in Washington D.C., Ayane & Paul have shared their music with audiences around the world, in venues ranging from Antenna Cloud Farm in rural Massachusetts to Kanagawa Hall in Yokohama, Japan. They have appeared as guest artists at Spoleto Festival USA, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, Seattle's Emerald City Music, and Music From Angel Fire, as well as the Piedmont, Portland, Methow Valley, and Denver Chamber Music Festivals.

Ayane & Paul regularly collaborate with a wide range of other artists and composers. Recently, the duo commissioned and premiered a new piece by Judd Greenstein, worked closely with Norah Jones on her album “Pick Me Up Off the Floor,” and created music with Matthew Evan Taylor in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

AYANE KOZASA is a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet and winner of the Primrose International Viola Competition. Hailed for her "magnetic, wide-ranging tone" and her "rock solid technique" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Ms. Kozasa loves performing chamber music and is reknowned for her detailed artistic approach and radiant performances. The Aizuri Quartet gained international acclaim when they captured first prize at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan. Soon after, they became the Quartet-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and won the grand prize the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. Their GRAMMY-nominated debut album “Blueprinting”—one of NPR's top 10 classical albums of 2018—was released on New Amsterdam Records and features five unique works written specifically for the Aizuri quartet.

Much of Ayane’s current work involves mentoring aspiring young musicians through programs like the Green Lake Chamber Music Camp, Olympic Music Festival and Musikiwest Summer Festival. She is currently on the viola faculty at Adelphi University in Long Island, and has served as guest faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

PAUL WIANCKO has led an exceptionally multifaceted musical life as a composer and cellist. Paul is the cellist of the Kronos Quartet as well as the quartet collective Owls. He has performed alongside Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Goode, Chick Corea, Mitsuko Uchida, Nico Muhly, Max Richter, and members of the Guarneri, Takács, JACK, Parker, Orion, and Juilliard quartets. His performances with Musicians From Marlboro have been described as "utterly transparent" and "so full of earthy vitality and sheer sensual pleasure that it made you happy to be alive" (Washington Post).

Chosen as one of Kronos Quartet's "50 for the Future", Paul's own music has been described as "dazzling", "compelling" (Star Tribune), and "vital pieces that avoid the predictable" (Allan Kozinn). NPR recently wrote, "If Haydn were alive to write a string quartet today, it may sound something like Paul Wiancko's LIFT", a 25-minute work featured on the Aizuri Quartet's GRAMMY-nominated album “Blueprinting”. Paul is a recipient of the S&R Foundation's Washington Award for Composition and has been composer-in-residence at Music From Angel Fire, Spoleto Festival USA, Portland Chamber Music Festival, and the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. Paul's music has been premiered by the Kronos, Aizuri, Attacca, Parker, St. Lawrence, and Calder Quartets, yMusic, Alexi Kenney, and many others.