Ralph Kirshbaum

Cellist Ralph Kirshbaum has enjoyed a distinguished international career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher. He has appeared with leading orchestras including the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and London Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Orchestre de Paris, under conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti and Christoph von Dohnányi. A passionate chamber musician, he collaborated for thirty years with pianist Peter Frankl and violinist György Pauk, and has also worked with Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Yefim Bronfman, Leif Ove Andsnes, and the Emerson and Takács Quartets. His many recordings, devoted in particular to Bach, Elgar, Walton, Tippett and Shostakovich, have received numerous international awards. A renowned teacher, he taught for 38 years at the Royal Northern College of Music and held the Gregor Piatigorsky Chair at the USC Thornton School of Music. He is also the founder of two international cello festivals, in Manchester and Los Angeles.