Emmanuel Feldman

Cello

2011-2012 Season

Hailed by John Williams, Grammy award winning composer and conductor as "an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist", American cellist Emmanuel Feldman has emerged as one of the most innovative and expressive cellists of his generation.  Strings Magazine wrote of his playing “Feldman’s commanding technical prowess, sense of poetry, and identification with the spirit of the music combines…to create a brilliantly enjoyable performance”.  Known for his intense soulful playing and a broad range of repertoire and styles, he enjoys a career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, champion of new music and educator.

From newly commissioned premieres to performing the great classic cello repertoire, Mr. Feldman has joined forces with such artists as the Mark Morris Dance Group, Rebecca Rice Dance and renowned pop and jazz artist, Bobby McFerrin.  He has concertized throughout Europe and North America performing at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall Boston, Jordan Hall, The Phillips Collection, Radio France Paris, Franz Liszt Academy Budapest, Altes Rathaus Vienna, and many other venues. He has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, BMOP, Boston Philharmonic, New England String Ensemble, Merrimack Valley Philharmonic and Greensboro Festival Orchestra among others.  Following his debut on the Marquee Celebrity Series of Boston, Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe wrote “Emmanuel Feldman was superb in the Bach Solo Suites”.

An accomplished chamber musician, Mr. Feldman has collaborated with pianists, Jorge Bolet, Robert Levin, David Deveau, Gilbert Kalish, Randall Hodgkinson, Yehudi Wyner Joy Cline Phinney; instrumentalists Paul Newbauer, Richard Stoltzman, Jennifer Frautschi, Karen Gomyo, Lynn Chang, Marcus Thompson, Borromeo String Quartet and was invited to participate in the Marlboro Music Festival.  He has been guest artist at the Yellow Barn Music Festival, Heifetz Institute, New York Summer Music Festival, Summit Music Festival, Hartwick Music Festival, Killington Music Festival and was a resident artist for the Chappaquiddick Music Festival.  As co-founder of Cello e Basso (formerly the Axiom Duo) with French double bassist Pascale Delache-Feldman, they have concertized internationally and have commissioned more than a dozen new works and released their first CD on Synergy Classics.

His discography including solo cello works, chamber music, and works by contemporary American composers has brought him high praise for his collaborative skills.  His CD on Albany Records as soloist in “Rider on The Plains” featuring Virgil Thomson’s Cello Concerto was nominated for a 2008 Grammy award for producer Blanton Alspaugh (producer of the year) and was hailed as an “excellent new recording…the concerto sounds exhilarating in this bracing and confident performance” by the New York Times.

Mr Feldman has also recorded for the Naxos, Arsis, Parma, MMC and Zimbel labels.

A consumate advocate of new music, he has given the premieres and first recordings of cello works by composers Richard Danielpour, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison, Aaron Kernis, David Diamond, Gunther Schuller, Charles Fussell, Jan Swafford, Andrew List, and many others.  Emmanuel's own musical compositions have been performed by Cello e Basso, the New England String Ensemble and the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival.  Currently, Mr. Feldman is on the cello faculty at New England Conservatory and Tufts University and has a busy private studio in the Boston area. He also presents masterclasses and educational presentations at schools and universities.

The son of Julliard trained parents, he was born into a large musical family of string players and began studying the cello at age 12.   He gave his first solo performances with orchestra at age 14 and later won the Minnie Rose Award honoring the wife of renowned cellist, Leonard Rose.  He studied cello with Orlando Cole at the Curtis Institute and chamber music with Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle and Jascha Brodsky.  After graduating from Curtis he received a Tanglewood Music Center Fellowship and was awarded a scholarship to study at the Paris Conservatoire Supérieur.  He returned to the U.S. to work with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony as a part time member and was principal cellist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.  He has also studied with cellists David Finckel, William Stokking, Stephen Geber, Bernard Greenhouse, Igor Gavrytch and Amy Camus.  For more information please visit www.Emmanuelfeldman.com.