Steven Isserlis

British cellist Steven Isserlis CBE enjoys an international career as a soloist, chamber musician, author, educator, and broadcaster. Equally at home in music from baroque to the present day, he performs with the world’s greatest orchestras, including period ensembles, and has given many world premieres, including John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil, Thomas Adès’s Lieux retrouvés, four works for solo cello by György Kurtág, and pieces by Heinz Holliger, Jörg Widmann, Olli Mustonen, and many others. His vast, award-winning discography includes most of the cello repertoire, including the J.S. Bach suites (Gramophone Instrumental Album of the Year), Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, the Brahms Double Concerto with Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Grammy-nominated recordings of Haydn and Martinů. Isserlis’s latest book is a critically acclaimed companion to the Bach cello suites, while his two books for children about music are among the genre’s most popular and have been translated into many languages. He has also authored a commentary on Schumann’s Advice for Young Musicians. As a broadcaster, he has written and presented in-depth documentaries for BBC Radio on Robert Schumann and Harpo Marx. An insightful musical explorer and curator, he has programmed imaginative series for London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92nd Street Y, and the Salzburg Festival. Unusually, he also directs orchestras from the cello, including Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in 2019 with Radu Lupu in his final public performance. He was awarded a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998, in recognition of his services to music. International recognition includes the Piatigorsky Prize and the Glashütte Original Music Festival Award. Since 1997, he has been artistic director of the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove, Cornwall. He plays the 1726 “Marquis de Corberon” Stradivarius, on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.