Cellist David Russell maintains a vigorous performance schedule both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe He was appointed to the position of Assistant Principal 'cello with the Tulsa Philharmonic in 2000 and served on the teaching faculty of Oklahoma City University from 2001 to 2003 He has been on the faculty of Wellesley College As a member of the Grammy-nominated Eaken Trio, formerly in residence at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, he has toured extensively in France, Germany, Italy and England He is busy performer in the Boston area, serving as Principal Cello of Opera Boston and the Hingham Symphony and making regular appearances with such ensembles as Pro Arte Chamber orchestra of Boston, the New England String Ensemble, Cantata Singers and Ensemble and Emmanuel Music.
A strong advocate and performer of new music, he has performed with such ensembles as Phantom Arts Ensemble for American Music, Dinosaur Annex, Collage New Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Music on the Edge, AUROS Group for New Music, Firebird Ensemble, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, and the Fromm Foundation Players at Harvard He is a founding member of Furious Band, an ensemble devoted to the exploration and performance of works by young composers Furious Band was the 2000 contemporary ensemble in residence at the Aspen Summer Music Festival
Mr. Russell has premiered numerous works by living composers such as Eric Moe, Tamar Diesendruck, Andrew Rindfleisch, John Fitz Rogers, Laurie San Martin, Edward Cohen, Eleanor Cory, Kurt Rohde, Allen Anderson, Roger Zahab, Roshanne Etezady, Jerome Miskell, Alton Clingan, Edwin London, Shi-Hui Chen and Francis Thorne Recent projects include the premiere of Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s chamber opera Comala at the Bellas Artes in Mexico City, performances at Miller Theater at Columbia University, the American Academy in Rome and the Rotterdam Conservatory, U.S. premieres of works for solo cello by Harold Meltzer and Judith Weir, recordings of new works by Eric Moe, Eric Chasalow, Laurie San Martin, Allen Anderson and Edward Knight, masterclasses at the University of California-Davis, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and residencies at the University of South Carolina-Columbia and Tufts University He teaches at the Cello Seminar, a summer program for study of contemporary cello music associated with Music from Salem and developed by Rhonda Rider.
Mr. Russell frequently tours with recitals of new works for solo cello and has recently appeared at the the Boston Conservatory, University of Pittsburgh, the University of California-Davis, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Millikin University, the College of Wooster and Mount Union College His playing can be heard on the Albany Records, New World Records and Composers Recordings labels He obtained his D.M.A. in 'cello performance at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, studying with Timothy Eddy, and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the University of Akron and Brandeis University His previous teachers have included Steven Doane, Michael Haber and Rhonda Rider.