Daniel Ziesemer and Jacob Bernhardt were both born in 1987, only four weeks apart. They lived an hour-and-a-half from each other, and were in the same home education program, and yet they did not meet until they were fifteen years old. Since that time they have collaborated in many concerts and have recorded two CD albums together.
Daniel began his violin training with William Führberg at the age of three. In 1997 he continued his violin studies with Drostan Hall. In 1998 he added piano, organ and music theory studies with Dr. M. Dean Kincaid. Since 2001, Daniel has continued studying the violin with Dr. Roland and Almita Vamos of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and the Music Institute of Chicago. In 2003 a Christian ministry invited Daniel to play for ten benefit banquets honoring retired teachers of Moscow, Russia. He attended the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy Program in its inaugural year 2006-2007. Daniel has been privileged to participate in masterclasses and receive coaching from such artists as David Taylor, Mark Zinger, Marico Fuchs, Rachel Barton Pine, Alan Heatherington, and Sibbi Bernhardson. In 2015 Daniel was one of eight violin semifinalists in the Washington International String Competition in Washington D.C. In 2020, Daniel was a finalist in the William C. Byrd Young Artists Competition in Flint Michigan.
Jacob Bernhardt, DMA, a native of the Chicago area, was exposed to music at a young age through the ministry of both his grandmothers, who were church pianists. He began formal piano lessons at age six. In high school, he was a scholarship student of renowned pedagogue Emilio del Rosario at the Music Institute of Chicago. Mr. Bernhardt earned his Bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Bob Jones
University, and his master’s degree in collaborative piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music. At both schools he garnered scholarships and awards, including first prizes in
BJU’s Piano Contest and Concerto/Aria Competition, and in CIM’s Milhaud Competition. He also received CIM’s Rosa Lobe Memorial Award for the highest level of achievement
in the collaborative piano department. Dr. Bernhardt’s teachers and mentors include Anita Pontremoli, Joela Jones, Emilio del Rosario, David Lehman, and Deborah Gillette.
As a freelance collaborator, choral accompanying forms a large part of Mr. Bernhardt’s work, collaborating with the Cleveland Orchestra choruses, the Cleveland State
University choruses, and other regional groups such as the Cleveland Chamber Choir. He is also passionate about orchestral playing, and has performed with the Canton Symphony Orchestra and the Akron Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bernhardt is an amateur singer, and enjoys composing, conducting, reading, and playing cribbage. Jacob, his
wife Joanna, and their sons Freddie and Andrew, currently reside in Cleveland, Ohio.
Watch Daniel Ziesemer and Jacob Bernhardt perform Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, Concert transcription by Daniel Ziesemer for the 2025 Winter Music Competition as part of the Charleston International Music Competition.
Watch Daniel Ziesemer and Jacob Bernhardt perform Sonata in G, Movement II by Charles Wakefield Cadman on the violin and piano for the 2025 Classical Music Competition as part of the Charleston International Music Competition.