David Finckel

Cellist David Finckel’s multifaceted career as concert performer, artistic director, recording artist, educator, and cultural entrepreneur distinguishes him as one of today’s most influential classical musicians. A recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year award, he appears annually at the world’s most prestigious concert series and venues, as both soloist and chamber musician. He tours extensively with pianist Wu Han, in trios with Philip Setzer, and in a quartet with Daniel Hope and Paul Neubauer. Together with Wu Han, he serves as co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and they are the founding artistic directors of Music@Menlo, the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier summer chamber music festival and institute. In East Asia, he serves as founding co-artistic director of Chamber Music Today, an annual festival in Seoul. His wide-ranging musical activities include the launch of ArtistLed, classical music’s first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. BBC Music Magazine saluted the label’s 20th anniversary with a cover CD featuring David Finckel and Wu Han. This new recording is to be released on the ArtistLed label in the fall. He is professor of cello at The Juilliard School and artist-in-residence at Stony Brook University. Through a variety of educational initiatives, including directing the LG Chamber Music School in Seoul under the auspices of CMS, he has received universal praise for his passionate commitment to nurturing the artistic growth of countless young artists. David Finckel served as cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons.