Emmanuel Feldman

Hailed by John Williams as “an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist,” Emmanuel Feldman performs in the United States and abroad as a soloist, chamber musician, and composer. Described by Gramophone as “an artist who combines communicative urgency with tonal splendor,” Feldman’s recent release Our American Roots (Delos) includes Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker’s cello sonata. An enthusiastic collaborator, he has partnered in a wide range of performances with Bobby McFerrin, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Verona String Quartet, and Boston Pops. 

Feldman’s own world premier composition Standing Tall, a Cello Concerto earned a Silver Medal as part of the 2022 Global Music Awards. Standing Tall was performed using Emmanuel’s patented TekStand™, a revolutionary new invention allowing him to stand while performing. His compositions have been presented at the Granoff Music Center, Jordan Hall, and Brown University in performances by ensembles including the New England String Ensemble, Duo Cello e Basso, The City of Tomorrow Woodwind Quintet, Commonwealth Choral and the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival. His Enigma #1, written for Duo Cello e Basso, was performed at the Boston Celebrity Series to critical acclaim by The Boston Globe.

He has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau Paris, and Franz Liszt Academy (Hungary), and as a soloist with the Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Philharmonic. He also performed with Gilbert Kalish, Elmar Oliveira, and Paul Neubauer and with groups including the Jupiter and Borromeo String Quartets. Committed to expanding the cello repertoire, Feldman has premiered concertos written for him by composers Charles Fussell and Andrew List and sonatas and solo works by John McDonald and Pamela Marshall.  

Feldman’s critically acclaimed recordings and performances featured music by American composers including Steve Mackey, Richard Danielpour, and David Diamond and albums with pianist Joy Cline Phinney on the Albany and Delos labels. His Rider on The Plains album features Virgil Thomson’s Cello Concerto described as “sounding exhilarating in this bracing and confident performance” (N.Y. Times). Awarded grants from the Argosy and Thomson Foundations, Feldman’s Rider on The Plains earned a Grammy nomination for producer Blanton Alspaugh. 

A sought-after educator and clinician, Feldman’s cello students have attended most major music schools and conservatories in the United States and abroad and have won competitions including the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky International Competition and prizes at the Brahms International, Irving Kline, and Stulberg Competitions.

Born to a large musical family, Feldman first studied the violin, piano and French horn, choosing the cello at age 12 and later studying at the Curtis Institute. Inventor of the TekStand™ cello stand, he also invented the groundbreaking TekPin™ endpin. He has taught at New England Conservatory and Brown University, is on the performance faculty of Tufts University and has given master classes at the University of Taipei, Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern University and Peabody Institute. He has also taught at the International Cello Institute, VCU Global Summer Institute of Music and Heifetz International Music Institute.