The first Grand Prize winner of the Emmanuel Feuermann Memorial International Cello Solo Competition, Anthony Elliott garners critical acclaim for his performances as a concert cellist, conductor, and soloist. Presently he is Emeritus Professor of Cello at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, and the CBC Toronto Orchestra. A number of his CD recordings are available at www.cdbaby.com.
He has appeared at major festivals including Sitka Summer Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Texas Music Festival, Musicorda, New York’s Bargemusic Series, Chamber Music International of Dallas, Houston’s DaCamera Series, the Victoria International Festival, Kent/Blossom Festival, Aria International Festival, and the Gateways Festival. Chamber music appearances have included collaborations with the present and former concertmasters of such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, Deutsche Kammerakademie, and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic.
A highly successful conductor, he has conducted professional symphony, opera, choirs, ballet, youth, and chamber orchestras, including the All-State Orchestras of Alaska, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. His multi-faceted career has taken him to 49 states, Canada, Japan, China, England, France, Holland, Germany, and Austria. Cello students of Anthony Elliott hold prominent positions in major symphony orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, as well as the Chiara, Pacifica, Anderson, Jupiter, Degas, and DaPonte String Quartets. Many have won important competitions and awards, including the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has given masterclasses at the Aspen School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, the Meadowmount School, and the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Mr. Elliott has performed Morawet'z Memorial to Martin Luther King numerous times throughout his illustrious career. He shares with us a little more context regarding the origins of the piece: "In 1967 Rostropovich asked Morawetz to write a composition for him for cello and orchestra “with an unusual orchestral color”. But it was only in April of 1968 when the composer, deeply moved by the tragic death of Martin Luther King, decided to fulfill his commission by writing a work dedicated to the memory of the great civil rights leader. The composition was completed in the summer of the same year. The premiere was scheduled by the Vancouver Symphony in February of 1970, with Rostropovich as soloist, but due to illness, his tour to the American continent was canceled. The premiere took place later with Zara Nelson as soloist, who recorded this work on disc with Otto Werner Mueller conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. On April 4th, 1978, the tenth anniversary of King’s death, Morawetz’s composition was programmed on 16 radio stations in Canada and the USA to an audience of several million listeners."
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