David Finckel’s dynamic musical career has included performances on the world’s stages in the roles of
recitalist, chamber artist, and orchestral soloist. The first American student of Mstislav Rostropovich, he
was the winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s junior and senior divisions, resulting in two performances
with the orchestra.
In 1979 he joined the Emerson String Quartet, and during thirty-four seasons
garnered nine Grammy Awards and the Avery Fisher Prize. His quartet performances and recordings
include quartet cycles of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Brahms,
Bartók, and Shostakovich, as well as collaborative masterpieces and commissioned works.
David Finckel and Wu Han founded ArtistLed, the first internet-based, artist-controlled classical
recording label in 1997. ArtistLed’s catalog of more than 20 releases includes the standard literature for
cello and piano, plus works composed for the duo by George Tsontakis, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bruce
Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, Edwin Finckel, Augusta Read Thomas and Pierre Jalbert. His orchestral
recordings include both the Dvořák and Harbison concertos.
Artistic Co-Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he also co-founded Music@Menlo
in 2003, an innovative summer chamber music festival in Silicon Valley.
David Finckel taught extensively with the late Isaac Stern in America, Israel, and Japan. He is currently a
professor at both the Juilliard School and Stony Brook University and oversees both CMS’s Bowers
Program and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. Passionately dedicated to education for
musicians of all ages and experience, he developed a special Resource section of his website to provide, at no cost, a wealth of guidance for students on both
music study and careers, as well as invaluable information for arts organizations and individuals on every
aspect of concert presenting. David’s 100 online lessons on cello technique, Cello Talks, are viewed by an
international audience of musicians.
Along with pianist Wu Han, David Finckel was the recipient of Musical America’s Musicians of the Year
Award.
