J.S. Bach: Five Unaccompanied Suites for Solo Cello

From the United States to Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Israeli American cellist Amit Peled, voted by Musical America as one of the most Influential Music Professionals of 2015, is acclaimed as one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the concert stage today. At 6’5″ tall, Peled started life as a basketball player and was called “larger than life” when he enveloped his cello and “Jacqueline du Pré in a farmer’s body.” Peled often surprises audiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music more accessible to wider audiences. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun reflected on a recent performance: “Peled did a lot of joking in remarks to the audience. His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we’ll need more of if classical music is to survive.”

During the 2015/16 season, Mr. Peled will continue sharing with audiences around the world the sound of the historic cello of Pablo Casals. Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin, the widow of Maestro Casals, personally handed him the instrument, a Goffriler ca. 1733. Some of the upcoming highlights with this historic cello include the culmination of a 20 city U.S. recital tour at the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington D.C., a recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra, an extensive tour with his two chamber music groups, The Tempest Trio and the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio, and return engagements with the Tucson Symphony and Phoenix Symphony. As a continuing advocate for new music this season, Mr. Peled will be premiering a work written especially for him by composer, Lera Auerbach, entitled La suite dels ocells. He will also be collaborating with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with a new music recital series created by composer, Mason Bates, titled KC Jukebox.

Mr. Peled has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and in the world’s major concert halls such as: Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, New York; Salle Gaveau, Paris; Wigmore Hall, London; Konzerthaus, Berlin; and Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium. Following his enthusiastically received Alice Tully Hall concerto debut playing the Hindemith cello concerto, the New York Times stated: “Glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing that made you want to hear him again.”

As a recording artist, Amit recently released his fourth Centaur Records CD, “Collage” which will be closely followed by his recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra. These records follow three immensely successful installments, “The Jewish Soul,” “Cellobration,” and “Reflections.” As an active chamber musician, Peled is a founding member of the famed Tempest Trio with pianist, Alon Goldstein and violinist, Ilya Kaler. Their Dvorak CD on Naxos has been described as “The best ‘Dumky’ on dis ever!”