Cellist Nicholas Canellakis to Make Carnegie Hall Debut with American Symphony Orchestra & Leon Botstein, 4/19

The critically acclaimed young cellist Nicholas Canellakis will make his Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium debut on April 19, 2015, at 2pm as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra under its music director, Leon Botstein.

Mr. Canellakis is featured in Music for Cello and Orchestra, a 1992 work by the late Harvard University composer Leon Kirchner (1919-2009), on a program showcasing five American composers with historical or current teaching posts at Ivy League universities. The concert also includes Alleluia by Harvard's Randall Thompson (1899-1984); Dream-King and his Love,

op. 31 by the onetime Yale University professor Horatio Parker (1863-1919); Symphony No. 2 by the late George Rochberg (1918-2005), who taught at the University of Pennsylvania; and the world premiere of Cantares by Roberto Sierra (b. 1953), a professor and chair of the composition department at Cornell University. Appearing with the ASO in addition to Mr. Canellakis at this concert are tenor Phillip Fargo and the Cornell University Glee Club and Chorus, Robert Isaacs, director and conductor.

For tickets, contact Carnegie Hall, by email at ticketassistance@carnegiehall.org; by phone at 212.247.7800; or visit the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.

Nicholas Canellakis has become one of the most sought-after and innovative cellists of his generation, captivating audiences throughout the United States and abroad. In The New York Times his playing was praised as "impassioned" and "soulful," with "the audience seduced by Mr. Canellakis's rich, alluring tone."

Mr. Canellakis is an artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with which he performs regularly in Alice Tully Hall and on tour. A frequent performer at Bargemusic in New York City, he has also been a guest artist at many of the world's leading music festivals, including Santa Fe, La Jolla, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Verbier, Mecklenburg, Moab, Bridgehampton, Sarasota, and Aspen. Mr. Canellakis is the co-artistic director of the Sedona Winter MusicFest in Arizona.

The Canellakis-Brown Duo, his collaboration with pianist/composer Michael Brown, performs numerous recitals throughout the country, and is set to release its debut album during the 2014-15 season. Mr. Canellakis and Mr. Brown have also garnered attention for their multimedia projects, and one of their short films received a world premiere at the 2013 Look & Listen Festival in New York.

Mr. Canellakis was a winner of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two international auditions. He was also selected to be in residence at Carnegie Hall as a member of Ensemble ACJW, in which he performed in Weill and Zankel Halls and worked to enhance music education throughout New York City. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory, where his teachers included Orlando Cole, Peter Wiley, and Paul Katz. Mr. Canellakis is on the faculty of the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music.

Filmmaking is a special interest of Mr. Canellakis. He has produced, directed, and starred in several short films and music videos, including his popular comedy web series "Conversations with Nick Canellakis." All of his videos can be found on his website at www.nicholascanellakis.com.