Empire Wild is a genre-bending crossover ensemble founded by Mitchell Lyon and Ken Kubota, two Juilliard-trained cellists dedicated to exploring musical frontiers and pushing their instruments to the limit. The ensemble fuses pop, folk, jazz, and more into their innovative songwriting and compositions, while their program features a mix of original music, inventive covers, and fresh takes on classical pieces. Honored with the Ambassador Prize in the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, Empire Wild has captivated audiences nationwide with its unique artistry. Their debut EP, Paper Seasons, showcases original songs that highlight their distinctive sound and instrumentation. Recent performances include stops at prestigious venues like the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, the Harriman-Jewell concert series in Kansas City, and Lincoln Center’s Kaufman Music Center.

Since they first met as undergraduates at the Juilliard School, Mitch and Ken have shared a desire to explore further musical vistas. Mitch is driven by a passion for leading string players in new stylistic directions, incorporating contemporary techniques into existing repertoires, and challenging assumptions about the cello’s role in the broader musical landscape. Ken, seeking a renewed sense of purpose, redefined his approach to music, focusing on joy, collaboration, and the inspiration found in shared musical experiences. He often treats the cello like a guitar, exploring its capabilities and challenging its social norms. Both musicians are committed to community engagement and teaching, prioritizing creative musical outlets for students of all backgrounds. Empire Wild thrives on collaborations with unique artists, enriching performances and offering audiences fresh, dynamic experiences. Together, they created Empire Wild to explore a wider sonic landscape, celebrating good music across genres and providing a platform to express diverse human experiences and emotions.

As passionate educators, Ken, Brandon, and Mitch find great fulfillment in sharing the joys of being an artist with communities of all ages both as a band and as individuals in their own professional work.

Ken spends much of his week wearing the cello teacher hat, teaching at Peabody Preparatory (MD), Westport Suzuki School (CT) and Lucy Moses School (NY) as well as privately, all while trying to convince his students that the cello is the best instrument ever.

Mitch, as a teaching artist for the New York Philharmonic for the last several years, has worked to get students excited about classical music, performed for thousands of students in neighborhoods throughout New York City, and wrote and designed interactive concerts and workshops.

Together as an ensemble, Empire Wild feels that it’s important to continue this community-oriented work and bring creative musical outlets and opportunities to students of all backgrounds and skill levels. We've also had a lot of fun sharing our unusual versatility with students through workshops at University of Iowa and Peabody Institute, among others.

In these workshops, students get to dip their toes into learning many of the extended techniques we use in our own songs (chopping, strumming, different types of grooves and rhythms). We will also teach melodies by ear, discuss practical music theory, work on improvising, and develop arrangement ideas and skills.

When all is said and done, we love performing our newly-created arrangements with the students! Below is a ‘final performance’ after a one-hour workshop at the Preucil School of Music where everything was taught by ear.