Called a “true talent" by Montreal's Christophe Huss, Jason Pegis, PhD, is a recent Doctorate of Musical Arts graduate of UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, where he studied with Antonio Lysy as a strings teaching assistant/associate. He also holds a Master of Music and the Max Stern Fellowship from McGill University where he studied with Matt Haimovitz. Pegis also holds a Bachelor of Music from Willamette Music, mentored by Jason Duckles and Valdine Mishkin. He has won numerous awards as a soloist and chamber musician, including being a national finalist of the 2014 MTNA Young Artist Chamber Music Competition, Outstanding Cellist Award at the 2015 Eugene Symphony Young Artist Competition and the 2016 Zodiac Music Festival Young Artist Award.
A 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival Fellow, Pegis has commissioned and premiered works by Kristapor Najarian, Sergei Umroyan and Quentin Lauvray. He is also an artist for the South Eastern Young Artists and Dilijan Chamber Music Series, and has performed with notable musicians such as Johannes Moser, Axel Strauss, Ettore Causa, Victor Fournelle-Blain and Denis Bouriakov, Antonio Lysy, Varty Manouelian and Robert deMaine.
He holds a faculty position at the International Cello Institute and recently toured the U.S., Canada and Armenia premiering works as a member of UCLA’s VEM Quartet, which was recorded on the Naxos CD Modulation Necklace. As a soloist, he has performed with the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Symphony Orchestra and the Palisades Symphony. Jason plays on an 1880 Neuner-Hornsteiner cello from the Carlsen Cello Foundation.