Steven Isserlis Cellist
Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British
cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician,
educator, author and broadcaster.
As a concerto soloist he appears regularly with the world’s leading orchestras
and conductors, recent engagements including performances with the Berlin
Philharmonic, Budapest Festival, Philharmonia, Cleveland, Minnesota, Zurich
Tonhalle and NHK Symphony Orchestras. He gives recitals every season in major
musical centres, working with pianists such as Jeremy Denk, Kirill Gerstein, Stephen
Shih, Ferenc Rados and Dénes Várjon; and plays with many of the world’s leading
chamber orchestras, including period-instrument ensembles. Unusually, he also
directs chamber orchestras from the cello, in classical programmes.
the Wigmore Hall and elsewhere; recital programmes with Ian Bostridge, Stephen
Beethovenhaus in Bonn performed on fortepiano and Beethoven’s own cello (which
was last played in public more than 50 years ago); his appointment as Guest Artistic
Leader of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; a major European tour with the
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Joshua Bell; and the world premiere of the
orchestral version of Thomas Adès’s Lieux retrouvés in Lucerne, with the composer
himself conducting.
As a chamber musician he has curated series for many of the world’s most famous
festivals and venues, including the Wigmore Hall, the 92nd St Y in New York, and
the festivals of Salzburg and Verbier. These specially devised programmes have
mark the centenary of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second
World War; explorations of Czech music; the teacher-pupil line of Saint-Saens, Faure
Schumann’s life and music; and the music of Serge Taneyev (teacher of Steven’s
grandfather, Julius Isserlis). For these concerts Steven is joined by a regular group of
friends who include the violinists Joshua Bell, Pamela Frank and Isabelle Faust, violist
Tabea Zimmermann, and clarinettist Michael Collins.
The recipient of many awards, Steven Isserlis’s honours include a CBE in recognition
of his services to music, and the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau. He is also
one of only two.
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