A person who plays the cello is called a cellist. This list of notable cellists is divided into four categories: 1) Living Classical Cellists; 2) Non-Classical Cellists; 3) Deceased Classical Cellists; 4) Deceased Non-Classical Cellists.
The cello (/ÃÂtÃÂÃÂloÃÂ/ chel-oh; plural cellos or celli) is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments.
Living classical cellists
A
B
- Michael Bach (born 1958, Germany, also composer and visual artist)
- Soo Bae (born 1977, Korean-Canadian, living in United States)
- Zuill Bailey (born 1972, United States)
- Alexander Baillie (born 1956, England)
- Matthew Barley (born 1965, England)
- Maya Beiser (born 1963, Israel, moved to the United States, new classical music)
- Emmanuelle Bertrand (born 1973, France)
- Coenraad Bloemendal (born 1946, Netherlands, moved to Canada)
- Mike Block (born 1982, United States)
- Becca Bradley (born 1991, United States)
- Andreas Brantelid (born 1987, Denmark)
- Carter Brey (born 1954, United States)
- FrantiÃ
¡ek Brikcius (living, Czech Republic)
- Denis Brott (born 1950, Canada)
- Mario Brunello (born 1960, Italy)
- Max Beitan (born 1986, Russia)
C
- Gautier Capuçon (born 1981, France)
- Colin Carr (born 1957, England)
- Phoebe Carrai (born 1955, United States, baroque and other historical styles)
- Jesús Castro-Balbi (living, of Peruvian descent, moved from France to the United States)
- Rosa Cedrón (born 1972, Spain, also a singer)
- Han-na Chang (born 1982, South Korea, also a conductor)
- Young-Chang Cho (born 1958, South Korea)
- Telalit Charsky (born 1986, Israel)
- Chu Yibing (born 1966, China)
- Myung-wha Chung (born 1944, Korean)
- LluÃÂs Claret (born 1951, Andorra)
- Natalie Clein (living, England)
- Bruno Cocset (born 1963, France)
- Robert Cohen (born 1959, England)
- Christophe Coin (born 1958, France)
- Emilio Colón (born in Puerto Rico, also a composer and conductor)
- Kristina Reiko Cooper (living, United States)
- Marc Coppey (born 1969, France)
D
E
F
G
- Sol Gabetta (born 1981, Argentina)
- Ophélie Gaillard (born 1974, France)
- Alban Gerhardt (born 1969, Germany)
- Kristin von der Goltz (born 1966, Germany, period instrument)
- David Geringas (born 1946, Lithuania)
- Igor Gavrish (born 1945, Russian)
- Rudolf GleiÃÂner (born 1942, Germany)
- Tina Guo (born 1985 in China, raised and living in the United States, also an electric cellist and erhuist)
- Natalia Gutman (born 1942, Russian)
H
- Matt Haimovitz (born 1970, Israel)
- Narek Hakhnazaryan (born 1988, Armenia)
- Yehuda Hanani (born Jerusalem, Israel)
- Richard Harwood (born 1979, England)
- Ofra Harnoy (born 1965, Israel)
- Stjepan Hauser (born 1986, Croatia)
- Frans Helmerson (born 1945, Sweden)
- Catherine Hewgill (born 1963, Australia) - Principal Cello Sydney Symphony Orchestra
- Desmond Hoebig (born 1961, Canada)
- Louise Hopkins (born 1968, England)
- Dale Henderson (cellist) (New York) - Founder of Bach in the Subways
- Sébastien Hurtaud (living, France)
I
J
K
- Sheku Kanneh-Mason (born 1999, United Kingdom)
- Ivan Karizna (born 1992, Belarus)
- Anssi Karttunen (born 1960, Finland)
- Paul Katz (living, United States), founding member of the Cleveland Quartet
- Jonah Kim (born 1988, South Korea)
- Ralph Kirshbaum (born 1946, United States)
- Maria Kliegel (born 1952, Germany)
- Jacob Koranyi (born 1983, Sweden)
- Nina Kotova (born 1969 in Soviet Union, lives in the United States)
- Maxim Kozlov (active 1995 - present, born in Russia, lives in the United States)
- Anatoli Krastev (born 1947, Bulgaria)
- Josef Krecmer (born 1958, Czech Republic)
- Wieland Kuijken (born 1938), Belgium, baroque cello and viola da gamba, also a conductor
- Friedemann Kupsa (born 1943, Austria)
- Aage Kvalbein (born 1947, Norway)
L
M
- Yo-Yo Ma (born 1955 in France, raised and living in the United States)
- Mischa Maisky (born 1948, Latvia)
- Brian Manker (living, Canada)
- Jonathan Manson (living, born in Scotland), period instruments, also plays viola da gamba
- Alain Meunier (born 1942, France)
- Antônio Meneses (born 1957, Brazil)
- Ailbhe McDonagh (born 1982, Ireland)
- Ivan Monighetti (born 1948, Poland)
- John Moran (born 1963, United States), baroque cello
- Truls Mørk (born 1961, Norway)
- Johannes Moser (born 1979, Germany, lives in Canada)
- Philippe Muller (born 1946, France)
- Daniel Müller-Schott (born 1976, Germany)
N
O
P
- Johann Sebastian Paetsch (born 1964, United States)
- Paolo Pandolfo (born 1964, Italy, viola da gamba)
- Angela Park (born 1987, United States)
- Vito Paternoster (born circa 1963 [estimated from other dates], Italy, also a conductor and composer)
- Amit Peled (born 1973, Israel)
- Samuli Peltonen (born 1981, Finland)
- David Pereira (born 1953, Australia)
- Miklós Perényi (born 1948, Hungary)
- Vladimir Perlin (born 1942 in Soviet Union, lives in Belarus, also a conductor and pedagogue)
- Luigi Piovano (living, Italy, baroque and modern cellos, also a conductor)
- Anthony Pleeth (born 1948, England, baroque cello, son and student of William Pleeth)
- Carlos Prieto (born 1937, Mexico)
- Mark Prihodko (born 1997, Belarus, lives in United States)
Q
- Jean-Guihen Queyras (born 1967 in Canada, lives in France, plays baroque and modern cellos)
- Misha Quint (born 1960 in Soviet Union, moved to the United States)
R
- Giovanni Ricciardi (born 1968, Italy)
- Sharon Robinson (born 1949, United States)
- (Kyril) Kirill Rodin (born 1963, Russian)
- Sergei Roldugin (born 1951, Russia)
- Shauna Rolston (born 1967, Canada)
- Joshua Roman (born 1983, United States)
- Alexei Romanenko (born 1974 in Soviet Union, moved to the United States)
- Nathaniel Rosen (born 1948, United States)
- Martti Rousi (born 1960, Finland)
- Alexander Rudin (born 1960, Russian)
- Martin Rummel (born 1974, Austria)
S
- John SantâÂÂAmbrogio (born 1932, United States)
- Sara Sant'Ambrogio (born 1962, United States)
- Julian Schwarz (born 1991, United States)
- Inbal Segev (born in Israel, lives in the United States)
- Tessa Seymour (born 1993, United States)
- Jacob Shaw (born 1988, born in United Kingdom, lives in Denmark)
- Fred Sherry (born 1948, United States)
- Andrew Shulman (born 1960, England, also a conductor and composer)
- Vedran SmailoviÃÂ (born 1956, Bosnia and Herzogovina, lives in Northern Ireland)
- Brinton Averil Smith (born 1969, in Royal Oak Michigan)
- Giovanni Sollima (born 1962, Italy, also a composer)
- Jeffrey Solow (born 1949, Los Angeles)
- Kian Soltani (born 1992, Austria)
- Julian Steckel (born 1982, Germany)
- Pierre Strauch (born 1958, France)
- Peter Stumpf (United States)
- Luka Ã
 ulià(born 1987, Slovenia)
- Hidemi Suzuki (born 1957, Japan, period instruments, also a conductor)
T
U
V
W
- Nathan Waks (born 1951, Australia)
- Christine Walevska (born 1943, Los Angeles, California)
- Raphael Wallfisch (born 1953, England)
- Jian Wang (born 1968, China)
- Wendy Warner (living, United States)
- Graham Waterhouse (born 1962, England, also a composer)
- Paul Watkins (born 1970, Wales)
- Alisa Weilerstein (born 1982, United States)
- Paul Wiancko (born 1983, United States, also a composer)
- Peter Wiley (born 1955, United States)
- Dominique de Williencourt (born 1959, France, also a composer)
- Pieter Wispelwey (born 1962, Netherlands)
XYZ
Living non-classical cellists
B
C
- Isobel Campbell (born 1976, Scotland, indie rock)
- Grace Chatto (living, born 10 December 1985, multi-instrumentalist, key member of band, Clean Bandit.)
- Gretta Cohn (living, United States, rock musician and radio producer)
- Melora Creager (born 1966, United States, rock music)
D
E
F
G
H
- Natalie Haas (living, United States, Celtic folk music)
- Melissa Hasin (born 1954, United States, popular music)
- Stjepan Hauser (born 1986, Croatia, part of 2Cellos)
- Svante Henryson (born 1963, Sweden, jazz, rock, also a composer)
- Ivan Hussey (living, leader of Celloman, fusion music)
J
- Jorane (born 1975, Canada, alternative singer-songwriter)
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
- Jane Scarpantoni (living, United States, alternative rock)
- Philip Sheppard (living, England, also a composer)
- Ben Sollee (born 1983, United States, singer-songwriter, eclectic genres)
- Luka Ã
 ulià(born 1987, Croatia, part of 2Cellos)
- Mark Summer (born 1958, United States, original cellist of Turtle Island String Quartet)
T
W
XYZ
Deceased classical cellists
A
- Claus Adam (1917âÂÂ1983, United States, also a composer)
- Joseph Alexander (c.1770âÂÂ1822, Germany)
- Diran Alexanian (1881âÂÂ1954, Armenia)
- Francesco Aliani (1762âÂÂ1812, Italy)
- Karl Andersen (1903âÂÂ1970, Norway, also a composer)
- Johann Gottfried Arnold (1773âÂÂ1806, Germany, also a composer)
- Olivier Aubert (1763âÂÂc.1830, France, also a composer)
B
- Felix Battanchon (1814âÂÂ1893, France)
- Paul Bazelaire (1886âÂÂ1958, France)
- Hugo Becker (1863âÂÂ1941, Germany)
- Auguste van Biene (1849âÂÂ1913, Netherlands, moved to England)
- Luigi Boccherini (1743âÂÂ1805), Italy, primarily a composer)
- Karl Leopold Böhm (1806âÂÂ1859, Austria)
- Gaetano Braga (1829âÂÂ1907, Italy, also a composer)
- Jean-Baptiste Bréval (1753âÂÂ1823, France)
- Christopher Bunting (1924âÂÂ2005, England)
- Friedrich Buxbaum (1869âÂÂ1948, Austria)
- Anner Bylsma (1934âÂÂ2019, Netherlands, baroque cello)
C
- Pau Casals (1876âÂÂ1973, Spain, also a composer and conductor)
- Juan Ruiz Casaux (1889âÂÂ1972, Spain)
- Gaspar Cassadó (1897âÂÂ1966, Spain, also a composer)
- Giacobbe Cervetto (died 1783, Italy, moved to England)
- James Cervetto (1748âÂÂ1837, UK)
- Mabel Chaplin (1870âÂÂ1960, UK, member of the Chaplin Trio; also played viola ga gamba)
- Giovanni Battista Cirri (1724âÂÂ1808, Italy, also a composer)
- Jennifer Ward Clarke (1935âÂÂ2015, UK)
- Hugo Cole (1917-1995, UK)
- Orlando Cole (1908âÂÂ2010, United States)
- Nelson Cooke (1919âÂÂ2018, Australia, career partly in UK)
- Bernhard Cossmann (1822âÂÂ1910, Germany)
- John Crosdill (1751âÂÂ1825, UK)
- Douglas Cummings (1944âÂÂ2014, UK)
D
- Karl Davydov (1838âÂÂ1889, Russia)
- Jules Delsart (1844âÂÂ1900, France)
- Jean Deplace (1944âÂÂ2015, France)
- Friedrich Dotzauer (1783âÂÂ1860, Germany)
- Karl Drechsler (1800âÂÂ1873, Germany)
- Jean-Louis Duport (1749âÂÂ1819, France, brother of Jean-Pierre Duport)
- Jean-Pierre Duport (1741âÂÂ1818, France, brother of Jean-Louis Duport)
- Jacqueline du Pré (1945âÂÂ1987, England)
E
F
G
- Domenico Gabrielli (d.1690, Italy)
- Raya Garbousova (1909âÂÂ1997, born in Georgia, Russian Empire)
- Maurice Gendron (1920âÂÂ1990, France)
- Gwyneth George (1920âÂÂ2016, UK)
- Georg Goltermann (1825âÂÂ1876, Germany, also a composer)
- Bernard Greenhouse (1916âÂÂ2011, United States, founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio)
- Friedrich Grützmacher (1832âÂÂ1903, Germany)
H
I
J
K
- John Kennedy (1922âÂÂ1980, born in England, moved to Australia)
- Lauri Kennedy (1896âÂÂ1985, born in Australia)
- Julius Klengel (1859âÂÂ1933, Germany)
- Sviatoslav Knushevitsky (1907âÂÂ1963, Russia)
- AntonÃÂn Kohout (1919âÂÂ2013, Czech)
- Otto van Koppenhagen (1897âÂÂ1978, Netherlands)
- AntonÃÂn Kraft (1752âÂÂ1820, Czech)
- Joel Krosnick (1941âÂÂ2025, United States), was member of Juilliard String Quartet
L
M
- Fritz Magg (1914âÂÂ1997, born in Vienna, moved to the United States)
- Enrico Mainardi (1897-1976, Italy)
- Rudolf Matz (1901âÂÂ1988, Croatia)
- Joseph Merk (1795âÂÂ1852, Austria)
- Frank Miller (1912âÂÂ1986, United States)
- Georges Miquelle (1894âÂÂ1977, born in France, moved to the United States)
- VÃÂctor Mirecki Larramat (1947âÂÂ1921, born in France, lived in Spain)
- Lorne Munroe (1924âÂÂ2020, United States)
- Charlotte Moorman (1933âÂÂ1991, United States, performance art)
- May Mukle (1880âÂÂ1963, British)
N
O
P
- Siegfried Palm (1927âÂÂ2005, Germany)
- Aldo Parisot (1918âÂÂ2018, Brazil, United States)
- Leslie Parnas (1931âÂÂ2022, United States)
- Boris Pergamenschikow (1948âÂÂ2004, born in Soviet Union, moved to Germany)
- Gregor Piatigorsky (1903âÂÂ1976, born in Russia, moved to United States)
- Alfredo Piatti (1822âÂÂ1901, Italy)
- William Pleeth (1916âÂÂ1999, England, teacher of Jacqueline du Pré)
- Dominik PoÃ
ÂoÃ
Âski (1977âÂÂ2018, Poland)
- David Popper (1843âÂÂ1913, Bohemian born, active in Hungary)
R
S
- Karel Pravoslav Sádlo (1898âÂÂ1971, Czech)
- MiloÃ
¡ Sádlo (1912âÂÂ2003, Czech)
- Felix Salmond (1880âÂÂ1952, England)
- Heinrich Schiff (1951âÂÂ2016, Austria)
- Franz Schmidt (1874âÂÂ1939, Austria, also a pianist and a composer)
- Georg Schnéevoigt (1872âÂÂ1947, Finnish, also a conductor)
- Eleonore Schoenfeld (1925âÂÂ2007, born in Slovenia, died in the United States)
- Joseph Schuster (1903âÂÂ1969, born in Turkey, died in the United States)
- Adrien François Servais (1807âÂÂ1866, Belgium)
- Daniil Shafran (1923âÂÂ1997, Russian)
- Natalia Shakhovskaya (1935âÂÂ2017, Russian)
- Harvey Shapiro (1911âÂÂ2007, American)
- Anna Shuttleworth (1927âÂÂ2021, England)
- FrantiÃ
¡ek Sláma (1923âÂÂ2004, Czech)
- Benyamin Sönmez (1983âÂÂ2011, Turkey)
- George Sopkin (1914âÂÂ2008, United States)
- David Soyer (1923âÂÂ2010, United States)
- William Henry Squire (1871âÂÂ1963, England)
- János Starker (1924âÂÂ2013, born in Hungary, died in the United States)
- (1928-2003, Germany)
- Leo Stern (1862âÂÂ1904, England)
- Guilhermina Suggia (1885âÂÂ1950, Portugal)
T
V
W
Deceased non-classical cellists
A
B
- David Baker (1931âÂÂ2016, United States, jazz composer and performer)
C
- Tom Cora (1953âÂÂ1998, United States, experimental jazz and rock)
E
H
K
- Fred Katz (1919âÂÂ2013, United States, described as "the first real jazz cellist")
M
P
R
See also
References