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Alistair MacRae, cellist
Cellist Alistair MacRae has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. He has performed with acclaimed artists such as Boris Berman, Kenneth Cooper, Robert Taub, and members of the Tokyo, Takacs, and Emerson Quartets.
His playing has been praised for its "rich sound and lyrical phrasing" (Palm Beach Daily News) and his performances have been featured in radio broadcasts across the United States on WWFM The Classical Network and WQXR. Mr. MacRae made his Carnegie Hall (NY) solo recital debut at Weill Hall in 2001.
Mr. MacRae is the cellist and Artistic Director of Fountain Ensemble (NY), one of its generations most accomplished and versatile chamber music groups. As a New York-based chamber musician, he has also appeared on Carnegie Hall's Making Music Series, as a member of the Berkshire Bach Ensemble (MA), with the Manhattan Sinfonietta, Suedama Ensemble (NY), and counter)induction (NY), and at summer festivals such as Monadnock Music (NH) and the Music Festival of the Hamptons (NY). He has been heard at major New York chamber music venues such as Carnegie's Zankel and Weill Halls, BargeMusic, Merkin Hall, the 92nd St Y, and Miller Theatre at Columbia University. His recent seasons have included premiere performances of new works at Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; recordings of chamber music by Telemann and Laurie Altman; music for The Discovery Channel; and ensemble CDs of music by Mozart and George M. Cohan. His eclectic collaborations have found him on stage with tap dancer Savion Glover, jazz bassist Ben Wolfe, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, and the rock band The Scorpions.
As an orchestral player, Mr. MacRae has performed with such groups as the Cleveland Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and Princeton Symphony Orchestra; and has appeared as a guest principal of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Riverside Symphonia, and the New Philharmonic of New Jersey.
Mr. MacRae teaches cello at Princeton University, is on the faculty of the Brevard Music Center, and also maintains a private studio in New Jersey. He has given master classes and lecture-performances at Marshall University, the University of Utah, Palm Beach Community College (FL), and Kings College (PA).
After completing the A.B. degree and earning a Certificate in Musical Performance at Princeton University, Mr. MacRae received his Master's degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he was a cello student of David Geber and studied chamber music with Isidore Cohen.
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