About
Recently hailed by The New York Times for his “warm-toned” performance of Lutosławski’s Grave (Metamorphoses), cellist Paul York is an accomplished soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He currently serves on the string faculty at the University of Louisville, where he maintains an active teaching and performing schedule. Recent solo appearances include performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Nanjing, China and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Karel Husa’s Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has performed Aaron Jay Kernis’s Colored Field for Cello and Orchestra with the Louisville Orchestra, and Vivaldi’s Double Concerto in G Minor with internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Of his performance at Carnegie Hall, New York Concert Review said “The fiendishly difficult solo part was brilliantly played by cellist Paul York; one had to be in awe of his playing.”
An avid chamber musician, Mr. York is a member of the York-Biran Duo and is a former member of the Louisville String Quartet. He was also a founding member of The Logsdon Chamber Ensemble, a Texas Commission of the Arts Touring ensemble as well as ensemble-in-residence at Hardin-Simmons University. He has performed recitals throughout Japan and has recently performed at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan.
As a champion of contemporary music, Mr. York has commissioned works for the cello by such composers as Stefan Freund, David Maslanka, Douglas Knehans, Jeremy Beck, Marc Satterwhite, Steve Rouse, Paul Brink, Rene Orth, and Frederick Speck. He also premiered the work Ballad for Solo Cello and Seven Cellos by Grawemeyer and Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Aaron Jay Kernis as well as Alfred Bartles’ new orchestration of Bartok’s First Rhapsody for cello with the Sewanee Festival Orchestra.
Mr. York has participated in numerous summer festivals. He is currently a member of the cello faculty at the Aria Summer International Academy and has been member of the artist faculty at the Beyond the Music Festival in Benasque, Spain, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, and Accent 09 and 11 at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He has served as principal cello with the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra and has held principal cello positions with numerous regional orchestras and has performed with the cello section of the Saint Louis Symphony.
Mr. York received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and his master of music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he studied with Ronald Leonard. Other teachers include Gabor Rejto, and Louis Potter. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Mr. York was selected to participate in the prestigious Piatigorsky Seminar at the University of Southern California and has received Distinguished Faculty Awards in Teaching and Creative and Research work from the University of Louisville. Mr. York can be heard on the Ablaze, Arizona University Press, Centaur, innova, and CRS labels. His premiere recording of the Husa concerto and can be found on the Ablaze label, and his CD of solo works entitled Paul York: Soliloquy and his recording of the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto have recently been released to critical acclaim.
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