Alexander

Artist Bio

Alexander Hersh, cello

Cellist Alexander Hersh is quickly establishing himself as a rising young talent. In 2015, he made his Symphony Hall debut with the Boston Pops and performed at the Kennedy Center. He has won many competitions and received numerous awards both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, including the 2016 Schadt String Competition, Luminarts Classical Music Fellowship, Hellam Young Artists’ Competition, Boston Pops/New England Conservatory Competition, Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. A passionate chamber musician, Hersh has performed at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses, the Olympic Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall. In the summer of 2014, he served as Principal Cellist for the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in Lucerne, Switzerland. He is a fourth-generation string player, and his parents, Stefan and Roberta, are both active professional violinists. His grandfather, Paul Hersh, is professor of viola and piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and his great-grandfather, Ralph Hersh, was a member of the Stuyvesant String Quartet and Principal Violist of the Dallas and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Raised in Chicago, Alexander Hersh began playing the cello at the age of five. His teachers have included Hans Jørgen Jensen and Laurence Lesser. In May of 2017, he earned his M.M. from New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Paul Katz and Kim Kashkashian. He plays a G. Ceruti cello on generous loan from a sponsor through Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins in Chicago.

    Upcoming Appearances