Lynn Harrell, cello
Lynn Harrell’s presence is felt throughout the musical world. A consummate soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor, and teacher, his work throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia has placed him in the highest echelon of today’s performing artists.
Mr. Harrell is a frequent guest of many leading orchestras including Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and the National Symphony. In Europe he partners with the orchestras of London, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Tonhalle, and Israel. He has also toured extensively to Australia and New Zealand, as well as Asia (including Japan), Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In the summer of 1999, Mr. Harrell was featured in a three-week “Lynn Harrell Cello Festival” with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He regularly collaborates with such noted conductors as James Levine, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Zinman.
Upcoming engagements include concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Frühbeck de Burgos, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, the Edmonton Symphony and William Eddins, and the symphonies of Taiwan and Singapore, both with Lan Shui. A European tour with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly brings him to the cities of Leipzig, Paris, and Birmingham. In May of 2013, the 92nd Street Y features Lynn Harrell with the Tokyo String Quartet.
In recent seasons, Mr. Harrell has particularly enjoyed collaborating with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist André Previn. In January 2004, the trio appeared with the New York Philharmonic performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Maestro Masur. An important part of Lynn Harrell’s life is participation in summer music festivals, which include appearances at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and the U.S. festivals of Aspen, Grand Teton, and Tanglewood.
On April 7, 1994, Lynn Harrell appeared at the Vatican with the Royal Philharmonic in a concert dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. As the Vatican’s first official commemoration of the Holocaust, this historic event was attended by both Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Rome. That year Mr. Harrell also appeared live at the Grammy Awards with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, performing an excerpt from their Grammy-nominated recording of the complete Beethoven String Trios (Angel/EMI).
A majorly accomplished recording artist, Lynn Harrell’s extensive discography of more than 30 recordings include the complete Bach Cello Suites (London/Decca), the world-premiere recording of Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields led by Marriner (London/Decca), the Walton Concerto with Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI), and the Donald Erb Concerto with Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony (New World). Together with Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mr. Harrell was awarded two Grammy Awards – in 1981 for the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio and in 1987 for the complete Beethoven Piano Trios (both Angel/EMI). Also with Mr. Ashkenazy and Pinchas Zukerman, Mr. Harrell recorded the Schubert Trios (London/Decca), released in February 2000 and the Brahms Trios (EMI) in 1994. His May 2000 recording with Nigel Kennedy, Duos for Violin & Cello, received unanimous critical acclaim (EMI). More recently, Mr. Harrell recorded Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Gerard Schwarz conducting (Classico).
In June 2010, along with his wife violinist Helen Nightengale, Lynn founded the HEARTbeats Foundation, a 501(c) charity. Based in Los Angeles, the HEARTbeats Foundation strives to help children in need harness the power of music to better cope with, and recover from, the extreme challenges of poverty and conflict. Mr. Harrell serves as a board officer and Artist Ambassador, a capacity that allows him to work directly with children in need.
Mr. Harrell plays a 2008 Dungey cello. He makes his home in Santa Monica, CA.
