BackProfile
ORB Piano Trio
Kira Bayer – violin
Mayuchi Ono – cello
Eliza Ruffle – piano
Kira Bayer, violin
Kira Bayer is a classically trained violinist from San Francisco, California. She has been playing the violin since age 7, and decided to pursue music at 14. She is now a 2nd year undergraduate student at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She is currently studying with Kristopher Tong of the Borromeo Quartet. Kira’s strengths and focuses lie in chamber music, to which she has directed much of her time and training to. Both during high school and college, she has formed and performed with various ensembles, from piano trios, string quartets, and quintets. A proactive musician, she has organized recitals and gigs with these ensembles, showcasing both solo and chamber music in public venues.
Kira has attended a few summer festivals over the years, including Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music and Virtuoso&Belcanto Festival in Lucca, Italy. This upcoming summer, she is planning on attending Center Stage Strings at University of Michigan. She has also participated in multiple projects with the Kronos Quartet, and has worked very closely with members of the Telegraph Quartet.
Mayuchi Ono, cello
Mayuchi Ono, the Overall Winner of the Gregynog Young Musician Competition 2025, studies cello with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Academy of Music, where she holds a scholarship. She previously studied with Lara Moore, Gemma Rosefield and Adrian Brendel, and continues to receive guidance from Anthony Pleeth. She has received numerous awards, including the Hattori Foundation Junior Award, the J A Beare Prize, and the British Music Society Prize, and was selected as an active participant at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclass. An active chamber musician, she has participated regularly in Beare’s Chamber Music since 2021 and is also deeply engaged in Baroque cello under the guidance of Andrew Skidmore. She has been generously supported by the St Clement Danes Educational Foundation, the Albert Cooper Trust and the Leverhulme Trust. She performs on an 1821 Ernst Liebich cello kindly loaned through the J & A Beare Cultural Trust and a Chanot & Chardon bow on loan from Anthony Pleeth.
Eliza Ruffle, piano
Pianist Eliza Ruffle is a second-year Biological Natural Sciences student at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, and the 2025 winner of the Cambridge University Concerto Competition. Previously, Eliza won her school’s concerto competition, performing Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 at St John’s Smith Square. She has given recitals at venues including Dukes Hall, St James’s Piccadilly and Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium — the latter as part of the winners’ concert for the American Protégé International Competition. Former Principal Orchestral Keyboardist of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, she has appeared at the BBC Proms, the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall. Also active in chamber and song accompaniment, she is part of Cambridge’s Chamber Instrumental Award Scheme and Lieder Scheme. This has allowed her to expand her work to include song and choir accompaniment.
