American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has attracted widespread attention for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. At 27 years old, she is already a veteran on the classical music scene having performed with the nation’s top orchestras, given recitals in music capitals throughout the U.S. and Europe, and having regularly appeared at prestigious festivals. She is also a dedicated chamber musician.
The intensity and passion of her playing has regularly been lauded, as has the spontaneity and sensitivity of her interpretations. Following her Zankel Hall recital debut Justin Davidson of New York Magazine said: “Whatever she plays sounds custom-composed for her, as if she has a natural affinity with everything.”

In November 2009, Ms. Weilerstein was one of four artists selected to perform at a White House classical music event that included student workshops hosted by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and performing in concert for guests including President Obama. In December she performed as soloist (Dvorak Cello Concerto) in Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, led by Gustavo Dudamel and was immediately invited back to Venezuela in January for concerts conducted by her brother, Joshua Weilerstein. Another highlight of Ms. Weilerstein’s 2009-10 season will take place on May 1st, 2010 when she performs Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim in London for the orchestra’s 2010 European Concert, an annual event that marks the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic. The concert will be televised live worldwide and will also be released on DVD. During the season she will also perform the Elgar concerto with the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre de Paris and the Hamburg Philharmonic.

Following her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June 2009, John von Rhein at the Chicago Tribune said of Ms. Weilerstein’s performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto: “The 27-year-old cellist spanned the full emotional range from poignancy to ebullience, bringing out an abundance of sentiment while avoiding sentimentality.” During the 2009-10 season she will perform this concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Peter Oundjian, the Cleveland Orchestra and Jonathan Nott, the Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Giordano Bellicampi, the Hallé Orchestra and Okko Kamu and the Israel Philharmonic and Pietari Inkinen.

Other highlights of Ms. Weilerstein’s 2009-10 season include the Canadian premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Azul with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and her debuts with the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and at the Cartagena International Music Festival. In November 2009 Ms. Weilerstein will perform the first three of Bach’s Six Cello Suites over three days at Columbia University in New York City. She will conclude the cycle performing the final three suites in April 2010. In 2008 Ms. Weilerstein and composer/pianist Lera Auerbach performed the world premiere of Ms. Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for Cello and Piano at the Caramoor International Music Festival and subsequently performed this work at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. They will come together again to perform this work in a program that also includes Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes, making 48 preludes in total, in San Francisco and Vancouver. Ms. Weilerstein will also join pianist Inon Barnatan for recitals in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Denver, Omaha, Ann Arbor and the Virgin Islands.