David Finckel

Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society, cellist David Finckel is a recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year award, one of the highest music industry honors in the US. He leads a multifaceted career as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, administrator, and cultural entrepreneur that places him in the ranks of today’s most influential classical musicians. He appears extensively with CMS, as recitalist with pianist Wu Han, and in piano trios with violinist Philip Setzer. Along with Wu Han, he is the founder and Artistic Director of Music@Menlo, Silicon Valley’s acclaimed chamber music festival and institute; co-founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music Today in Korea; and co-founder and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Under the auspices of CMS, David Finckel and Wu Han also lead the LG Chamber Music School. Mr. Finckel is the co-creator of ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose 19-album catalogue has won widespread critical praise as it approaches its 20-year anniversary. The latest release features the Dvorák Cello Concerto and a work written for him by Augusta Read Thomas. Piano Quartets, a Deutsche Grammophon release recorded live at Alice Tully Hall, features David Finckel, Wu Han, violinist Daniel Hope, and violist Paul Neubauer. David Finckel served as cellist of the nine-time Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons. The first American student of Rostropovich, he is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Stony Brook University.