Zuill Bailey

Zuill Bailey Biography
ZUILL BAILEY is considered one of the pre-eminent cellists of his generation. His rare combination of compelling artistry, technical finesse and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought after cellists today.
A consummate concerto soloist, Bailey performs with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Louisville, Milwaukee, Minnesota, San Francisco, Toronto and Utah, among other leading orchestras around the world. He has collaborated with such conductors as Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, Andrew Litton, Grant Llewellyn, James DePriest, and Stanislav Skrowacezewski and has been featured with musical luminaries Leon Fleisher, the Julliard String Quartet, Jaime Laredo, Lynn Harrell and Janos Starker. In his New York recital debut, Bailey performed a sold-out performance of the complete Beethoven Sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In additon to other major venues, he has appeared at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. Y and Carnegie Hall, where he made his debut performing the U.S. premiere of Miklos Theodorakis' Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra.
His international appearances include celebrated performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia, as well as concerts in the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, Peru and the United Kingdom. Festival appearances include Ravinia, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Santa Fe Chamber Music, Chautauqua and Bard Festivals, Bravo! Vail Valley, Maverick Concert Series, and the Music Academy of the West.
Zuill Bailey is a member of the acclaimed Perlman-Schmidt-Bailey Trio, featuring pianist Navah Perlman and violinist Giora Schmidt. He performs regularly with long time duo partner pianist Awadagin Pratt as well as with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. Thier recording of the Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano has received widespread popular and critical acclaim. Other recordings include a debut recital disc for Delos, Cello Quintets of Boccherini and Schubert with Janos Starker, Saint Saens Cello Concertos No. 1 and 2 "Live," and the Korngold Cello Concerto with Kaspar Richter and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz ASV.
Network television appearances include a recurring role on the HBO series "Oz," in addition to features on NBC, A&E, NHK TV in Japan, a live broadcast of the Beethoven Triple Concerto from Mexico City and the televised production of the Cuban premiere of Victor Herbert's Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Orchestra of Cuba. He is heard on NPR's "Performance Today, "Saint Paul Sunday," BBC's "In Tune," XM Radio's "Live from Studio II," Sirius Satellite Radio and RTHK Radio Hong Kong.
Zuill Bailey performs on a 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive touring engagements, Bailey is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro Musica and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Zuill Bailey is represented world-wide by Colbert Artists Management (www.colbertartists.com). For more information, please visit www.zuillbailey.com.

Telarc to release cellist Zuill Bailey’s recording
Bach Cello Suites on February 2, 2010
Telarc will release Cellist Zuill Bailey’s Bach Suites for Solo Cello on February 2, 2010. All six suites were recorded in one week at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City in December, 2008, following years of preparation by Mr. Bailey. “I was unaware of the depths of the music as a young person, but came to realize that there are so many ways of interpreting Bach that it channels where a cellist is at that precise moment. It has become such a personal journey for me.”
Zuill Bailey performs on a 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. The first surviving manuscripts of Bach’s Cello Suites date from the middle and late 1720’s. Bach’s Suites disappeared from public view during the decades after his death. It was not until the early 20th century, when cellist Pablo Casals helped the works emerge from obscurity. “My evolution with these pieces mirrors the way the Bach Suites were actually perceived over the centuries. This has been my greatest musical undertaking so far,” Bailey said.
Today, cellists regard the works as the pinnacle of their repertoire. “ The Bach Cello Suites are the center point of my existence, and I think I speak for all cellists when I say that the music is the Cellistic Bible.” Bailey adds, “For me, Bach is the mirror to the soul, and this recording of the Cello Suites truly reflects what is inside of me.”
Zuill Bailey made his Telarc debut with Russian Masterpieces for Cello in January 2009; the recording included works by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich and was recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Minnesota Public Radio said “this young master cellist is blazing his own trail as he seeks to make a personal statement in each of these works. If you're interested in hearing where this generation is taking classical music, you'll want to add Zuill Bailey's new release to your personal music library.” In August of the same year, he partnered once again with his longtime recital partner, pianist Simone Dinnerstein for Beethoven’s Complete Works for Piano and Cello for which International Piano called “one of the finest sets of the Beethoven cello sonatas currently available.”
Bailey’s rare combination of compelling artistry, technical finesse, and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought-after cellists and recording artists today. A consummate concerto soloist, Bailey performs with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, San Francisco, Israel, Minnesota, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Nashville, Toronto and Utah, among other leading orchestras around the world. He has collaborated with such conductors as Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, Andrew Litton, James DePriest, and Stanislav Skrowacezewski, and has been featured with musical luminaries Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, the Juilliard String Quartet, Lynn Harrell and Janos Starker. Mr. Bailey has appeared at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Carnegie Hall, where he made his debut performing the U.S. premiere of Miklos Theodorakis' Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra.
His international appearances include celebrated performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia, as well as concerts in Australia, the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Spain, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. Zuill Bailey is a member of the acclaimed Perlman-Schmidt-Bailey Trio, featuring pianist Navah Perlman and violinist Giora Schmidt. He also performs regularly with pianists Awadagin Pratt and Simone Dinnerstein in recitals and chamber music.
For more information on Zuill Bailey, visit www.zuillbailey.com .

Cellist Zuill Bailey Makes Telarc Debut With
Russian Masterpieces for Cello
Zuill Bailey, the dynamic and exhilarating American cellist, makes his Telarc debut on January 27, 2009, with the release of Russian Masterpieces for Cello. The recording includes Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and the Nocturne in D Minor Op. 19 No. 4, and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107.
The voice of the cello is uniquely suited to the qualities of passion and melancholy that makes Russian music so provocative to listeners “In an indirect way, Tchaikovsky helps fill the void that cellists feel since Mozart never featured the cello in any of his compositions,” Bailey said.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, (1840-1893) idolized Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that fascination with Mozart’s century and the decorative grace of Rococo Art inspired this work. The Rococo Variations were intended for the German-born cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. When Tchaikovsky left Russia for a lengthy stay in Western Europe, he gave Fitzenhagen a free hand in composition, which resulted in significant structural alterations to the piece. The cellist premiered his version of the Rococo Variations at a Moscow concert conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein in 1877. Tchaikovsky was displeased with the alterations, but later said, “The devil take it. Let it stay as it is.” The Fitzenhagen score is heard in Bailey’s rendition, and is considered an effective presentation of Tchaikovsky’s material.
The Nocturne is a cello and orchestra arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s solo-piano Nocturne, Op. 19, No. 4. The composer reconceived the Nocturne for cello by transposing it from C-sharp minor to D minor. The resulting melodies are typical of Tchaikovsky’s wistfulness.
The music of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was driven from Soviet concert stages after being denounced by Stalin functionaries for his “bourgeois formalism.” Bailey explains: “Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107 was written a few years after Stalin’s death, it expresses his new found musical freedom in the relief of the heavy Stalinist restrictions. The work also reinforced Shostakovich’s unofficial role as a national spokesman, as it contains his own aggression toward the government, his lament for lost colleagues, his sense of solitude and his enduring national pride.”
In 1959, Shostakovich wrote the concerto for the distinguished cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who had frequently performed Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano with the composer at the piano. His Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 107 was premiered in Leningrad with the Leningrad Philharmonic and Rostropovich. When Shostakovich gave his only public performance as a conductor in 1962, the Concerto appeared on the program.
Zuill Bailey’s rare combination of compelling artistry, technical finesse and engaging personality have secured his place as one of the most sought-after cellists today. Bailey performs regularly with long-time duo partner, pianist Awadagin Pratt, as well as with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. He is also a member of the acclaimed Perlman-Schmidt-Bailey Trio, which also includes pianist Navah Perlman and violinist Giora Schmidt.
As a solo artist, he has performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Louisville, Milwaukee, Minnesota, San Francisco, Toronto and Utah. He has also made numerous international appearances, including celebrated performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra during its 50th anniversary tour of Russia, as well as concerts in the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, Peru and the United Kingdom.
Zuill Bailey has also appeared on the HBO hit show Oz. In the show’s first season (1998), he portrayed the “murderous cellist” Eugene Dobbins, who was sentenced to prison for killing a violinist (with his cello) in a jealous rage. Zuill’s character subsequently died in a prison riot. He returned for the show’s final season in 2003, playing Bach from the grave/prison cell in a segment called, "Sonata da Oz."
Bailey performs on a 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive touring engagements, he is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro Musica and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso. Bailey endorses Thomastik Infeld Strings with Connolly and Company Music.
Zuill Bailey is represented worldwide by Colbert Artists Management (www.colbertartists.com). For more information about Bailey, visit his website at www.zuillbailey.com.
Zuill Bailey’s Russian Music for Cello (CD- 80724)
is due in stores on January 27, 2009.

Click here to purchase Zuill's music from iTunes:
Bach: Cello Suites - Zuill Bailey
Beethoven: Complete Works for Piano and Cello - Simone Dinnerstein & Zuill Bailey
Russian Masterpieces for Cello and Orchestra - Zuill Bailey, Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra