Faculty

Profile

Armed with a diverse spectrum of repertoire and eclectic creative interests, cellist Jay Campbell has been recognized for approaching both old and new music with the same curiosity and commitment. His performances have been called “electrifying” by the New York Times; “gentle, poignant, and deeply moving” by the Washington Post.

The only musician ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants — in 2016 as a soloist, and again in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet — Jay made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2013 and worked with Alan Gilbert in 2016 as the artistic director for Ligeti Forward, a series featured on the New York Philharmonic Biennale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2017, he was Artist-in-Residence at the Lucerne Festival along with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, later appearing together in recital at New York's Park Avenue Armory and the Ojai Music Festival. In 2018, he made his Berlin debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Future highlights include the Italian premiere of Luca Francesconi's cello concerto Das Ding Singt (commissioned for him by the Lucerne Festival) at Milano Musica, recording Marc-Andre Dalbavie's cello concerto with the Seattle Symphony, a recital tour with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and a new cello concerto by Andreia Pinto-Correia. Adjacent to his performing life, he was invited to be co-curator in 2019 with composer John Adams for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series.

Dedicated to introducing audiences to the music of our time, Jay has worked with some of the most creative musicians of our recent time including Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Matthias Pintscher, John Adams, Kaija Saariaho, Chaya Czernowin, Georg Friedrich Haas, and many others from his own generation. His close association with John Zorn resulted in the 2015 release of Hen to Pan (Tzadik) featuring all works written for Campbell, and was listed in the New York Times year-end Best Recordings of 2015. Deeply committed as a chamber musician, Campbell is a member of the JACK Quartet as well as the JCT Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Conrad Tao.