Colin Carr

An artist of winning integrity, cellist Colin Carr has gained admiration for performances of soul-baring introspection and searing intensity. Like his one-time mentor, Carr has the gift for musical penetration. Unlike the Menuhin of later years, Carr boasts a firm and reliable technique and may be counted upon for interpretations that sacrifice neither sense nor sound. In addition to his solo performances, Carr is a member of the Golub Kaplan Carr Trio, one of the most-respected of the new millennium and has amassed a lengthy list of credits with that ensemble. Aside from his concert work, Carr is a respected teacher, highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic. After beginning study of the cello at age five, Carr entered the Yehudi Menuhin School when he was eight years old and studied there with Maurice Gendron. Carr's gift for musical discovery attracted the attention of Menuhin and, at age 16, he performed the Brahms Double Concerto with the legendary violinist in the first of many collaborations. Among the numerous awards claimed by the cellist were the Naumburg Competition First Prize (Carr was the first British cellist to have won it), the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, first prize in the Young Concert Artist's International Auditions, and second grand prize in the Rostropovich International Cello Competition. Since beginning his professional career, Carr has given recitals and appeared as an orchestral soloist in many parts of the Continent and North America. In America, he has been a soloist with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Peninsula Festival Orchestra, and the symphonies of Montreal and Vancouver. In Europe, Carr has been a soloist with, among others, the Concertgebouw, the Philharmonia, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and the RIAS in Berlin. In addition to his solo work, Carr is a player of chamber works, familiar to audiences at many of the world's leading festivals, including Marlboro, Caramoor, Santa Fe, Spoleto, Edinburgh, and Bath. The Chamber Music Societies of Boston and New York have welcomed him and he has collaborated with the Guarneri String Quartet. And since 1982, he has been a member of the much-celebrated Golub Kaplan Carr Trio. Since the Golub Kaplan Carr Trio was formed, pianist David Golub, violinist Mark Kaplan, and Carr have toured the United States and Europe, appearing in many of the world's most prestigious concert halls. The trio's reading of the Beethoven Triple Concerto has won particular commendation, especially in performances with the Montreal Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Nor have the trio's members neglected contemporary composers. The trio has commissioned works in Amsterdam, London, Milan, Cologne, and New York and has often welcomed collaborations with other artists for special occasions. Colin Carr has enjoyed a concentrated, but fruitful recording career, both as a soloist and as a member of the Golub Kaplan Carr Trio. With the latter, he has recorded discs praised by both the print and broadcast media. Recordings devoted to Brahms' piano trios, Schubert trios, and Tchaikovsky/Smetana piano trios have all won warm, complimentary reviews, while Carr's live recording of the Bach suites drew enthusiastic words and his solo cello recording of works by Britten, Crumb, Kodály, and Schuller was a finalist in the NAIRD Indie competition. Carr was a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music for 16 years. In 1998, he was appointed a professor at London's Royal Academy of Music.
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