Prof. Emmanuel Feldman
Hailed by John Williams as “an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist”, Emmanuel Feldman has emerged as one of the most innovative and expressive cellists of his generation. Of his recent CD release on Delos, Our American Roots, Gramophone called Feldman, “an artist who combines communicative urgency with tonal splendor.” Known for intense and soulful playing that explores a broad range of repertoire and styles, he enjoys a multifaceted career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator.
With a solo concert career that has taken him throughout Europe and North Hall America, Feldman has performed at Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, The Phillips Collection, Salle Gaveau, Radio France, Franz Liszt Academy, and countless other venues in Germany, France and Spain. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New England String Ensemble, Merrimack Valley Philharmonic, Greensboro Festival Orchestra, and Boston Philharmonic, amongst others. Following his 2006 his debut on the Marquee Celebrity Series of Boston, Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe remarked that, “Emmanuel Feldman was superb in the Bach Solo Suites”. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with pianists Robert Levin, Gilbert Kalish, Yehudi Wyner, Jorge Bolet, and also with pianist Joy Cline-Phinney whom he recorded several CDs; instrumentalists Paul Neubauer, Richard Stoltzman, Jennifer Frautschi, Karen Dreyfus, and Elmar Oliveira, as well as the Borromeo String Quartet, and members of the Lydian and Jupiter String Quartets. He has also appeared frequently on radio and television broadcasts, including WQXR New York, WCRB and WGBH Boston, Vermont Public Radio and Radio France.
Through newly commissioned premieres and interdisciplinary collaborations with dance 9and poetry, Feldman has fostered collaborations with artists and ensembles such as the Mark Morris Dance Group, Rebecca Rice Dance, Aurea Ensemble, and Bobby McFerrin, helping to create unique and unexpected concert experiences. A champion of new music, he has premiered works by composers Richard Danielpour, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison, Aaron Kernis, David Diamond, Gunther Schuller, Charles Fussell, Jan Swafford, Andrew List, Yakov Yakoulov, John McDonald, and Gilbert Trout, amongst others. As co-founder of Cello e Basso (formerly Axiom Duo), with double bassist Pascale Delache-Feldman, they have commissioned more than a dozen new works. Feldman’s own compositions have been performed by the New England String Ensemble, Cello E Basso, and the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival. Additionally, he has arranged Gershwin’s Three Preludes for cello and piano. With nearly a dozen recordings to his credit, his discography has been recognized for its commitment to solo and chamber works by contemporary and American composers. His 2007 release on Albany Records, Rider on the Plains, was hailed by the New York Times as “an excellent new recording” and received a 2008 Grammy nomination for producer Blanton Alspaugh (Producer of the Year).
Feldman is currently on the cello faculty at New England Conservatory, and on both the cello and chamber music faculty at Tufts University, Heifetz International Music Institute, and Killington Music Festival, while also maintaining an active private studio in the Boston area. He has also taught at Yellow Barn, New York Summer Music Festival, Summit Music Festival, and Chappaquiddick Music Festival. Feldman’s cello students have been accepted to virtually every major music school and conservatory in the United States and abroad, many having gone on to enjoy careers as artists and educators. Several have garnered top prizes in international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, Presidential Scholars in the Arts, Brahms International Competition, Irving Kline, and Stulberg Competition, and have appeared on NPR’s “From The Top”.
Following his solo orchestral debut at the age of 14, Feldman went on to study cello at the Curtis Institute of Music with Orlando Cole, and chamber music with Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle, and Jascha Brodsky. In summers past he was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and has been invited to participate in numerous other festivals, including Meadowmount, Encore School for Strings and the Marlboro Music Festival. For many years he also enjoyed an extensive career as an orchestral musician, having held principal cello posts with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the New England String Ensemble, and section cello and substitute positions with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra.