Zuill Bailey, cellist

Cellist ZUILL BAILEY began the month with a bang -- the release of his second album for Telarc: The Complete Bach Suites.

The release was celebrated with a coast-to-coast tour, including full-house shows at Yoshi's in San Francisco and New York City's Le Poisson Rouge. It's now on its third week on Billboard Classical chart, debuting at #2 and holding strong in the top three albums.

"From the first notes, this disc commands attention above most others currently available and might be headed for classic status thanks to the combination of vision, temperament, and technique that comes together to great effect." - THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, Feb. 14, 2010

In March Zuill joins the Orquesta Sinfonica Nationial (Mexico D.F.), then the Israel Philharmonic for performances led by Itzhak Perlman with the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey Trio, and then heads on to Spain for the Deià International Music Festival. Other upcoming highlights include a Kennedy Center (Washington Performing Arts Society) recital with pianist Orion Weiss. (February 2010)

"There's no chance of drowsiness with Bailey, whose vigorous and rough-hewn playing style proves a winning tonic for this music, causing you to hear it afresh, and perhaps even to reappraise its merits. " - Classics Today, Jan. 22, 2009

Reaching No.11 on Billboard's Classical Charts its second week out, Telarc's "Russian Masterpieces" offers performances of Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Pezzo Capriccioso, Nocturne and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1.

"When I file this CD, it shall be under Shostakovich, for it is in the composer’s first Cello Concerto that Bailey makes his splash...Bailey proves a master of the art by giving us one of the finest readings I have yet heard of this wondrous score!" - Audiophile Audition, Jan. 23, 2009

(February 2009)

Cellist ZUILL BAILEY is known for his ability to connect with audiences; recent performances in South Carolina and El Paso demonstrated this charisma unequivocally. First, in South Carolina, where he joined the Philharmonic for the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations: “Having Bailey around is an event. Not only is he one of the world's finest cellists, but he is also well known as a caring human being. The nearly full house at the Koger was treated to a true class act with his performance of Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme" -  The Free Press, Nov. 19, 2008

Then over the Thanksgiving holiday he played a concert of Bach Suites, Nos. 1, 3 and 5, to a capacity audience in hometown El Paso, Texas. Before playing a line of music, he spoke with the audience about the structure of the suites, highlighting the influence of dance music on the works.

"So popular is Bailey and his easy-going informal manner onstage that St. Clement's was swamped and some concertgoers had to be turned away! Imagine that! Never thought I would see the day in El Paso when fans stormed a venue to hear a cellist play Bach!

It proves that when a musician and his instrument are totally on the same wavelength, the result is a brilliant performance, regardless of time period or style. In Bailey's case, he has all the skill and temperament needed to present Bach's genius so that listeners absorb its emotional intensity."- EL PASO INC., December 7, 2008

This month Zuill records the complete Suites for Telarc, and next month sees his first release for the label: "Russian Masterworks". Click to see the official EPK and learn more!

(December 2008)

Cellist ZUILL BAILEY wraps up a spring of Dvorak, playing the concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, the Orquesta Sinfonia de Peru and the Minnesota Orchestra, where "there was a rugged passion to his performance that was very compelling, and in the end, exquisitely felt." THE PIONEER PRESS, March 27, 2008.

Sojourns into other repertoire included Shostakovich with the Edmonton Symphony; Saint-Saëns and Massenet with the Illinois Philharmonic and the Puerto Rico Symphony; and the Lalo Concerto in Mexico City with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional next month.

These orchestral successes were coupled with recital performances of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with recording partner, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, at the Chandler Center for the Arts and at the National Gallery of Art. The second volume of their critically acclaimed complete Beethoven cello piano recording is due out on disc in 2009.

Catch him on the summer Festival circuit at Santa Fe Chamber Music, Maverick Concerts, and returning to the Chautauqua Festival for Saint-Saëns 1 and Massenet's "Meditation" from Thaïs. (June 2008)

This week cellist ZUILL BAILEY performs the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. The two appear together later this month at Carnegie's Weill Hall, where they will receive the Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders Award. The award sponsors their recording of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas: Vol. 1 was released last season by Delos to sweeping critical acclaim, vol. 2 is due out in 2008. Bailey and Dinnerstein repeat the Beethoven later this season at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Next up Mr. Bailey performs the Elgar Concerto with the Long Island Philharmonic. Other upcoming 07/08 highlights include appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Honolulu and Edmonton symphony orchestras, a return to the Virginia Symphony, and a recital appearance at the La Jolla Music Society. (October 2007)

Cellist ZUILL BAILEY began the month with a recital and residency activities in Stillwater, Minnesota, performing the Bach Cello Suites – which he will record this year for Delos. He then traveled to Wisconsin for performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra joined by Williams Eddins at the keyboard and concertmaster Frank Almond: "The cello part is much more difficult and flamboyant, and Bailey played it precisely but with just the right sense of Romantic abandon." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/9/2007

Upcoming engagements for Mr. Bailey include a tour with the PERLMAN/SCHMIDT/BAILEY trio and performances of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1, the Victor Herbert No.2 and the Dvorak Cello Concerto with regional orchestras. Mr. Bailey also performs this spring with his duo partner, pianist Awadagin Pratt, at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. In May, Bailey reprises the Beethoven Triple with the PSB at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, led by Itzhak Perlman. Read the February Newsletter for more about Mr. Bailey's featured interview with Frank J. Oteri in MUSO magazine. (February 2007)

Colbert's renowned cellist and impresario Zuill Bailey has kept up a blistering schedule in 2006, which he began as performer, Artistic Director and host of the El Paso Pro Musica's annual Chamber Music Festival. He followed this, touring with violinist Giora Schmidt and pianist Simone Dinnerstein in Alaska and Florida, and later with Mr. Schmidt and pianist Orion Weiss for concerts in Chattanooga and Oak Ridge, TN. He performed all-Beethoven recitals with Ms. Dinnerstein in Idaho, Minnesota, Beacon, NY, Queens College, NY, and for El Paso Pro Musica, in anticipation of their recording the works for Delos.

Orchestral engagements included Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and Haydn's C Major Cello Concerto with the Virginia Symphony and with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Lynchburg Symphony. Mr. Bailey also appeared this season with longtime duo partner Awadagin Pratt in Omaha, Wilmington and Cincinnati.

During the summer you can find Mr. Bailey at the WTIF Next Generation Festival, the Montreal and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals, the Wintergreen Music Festival, Appalachian Summer Festival, the Ruidoso Festival and Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, NY. Paternal congratulations are also in order – he and his wife welcome the birth of their second child in June! (May 2006)

September and October found cellist Zuill Bailey receiving wide acclaim for his appearances with the North Carolina Symphony under Grant Llewellyn performing Elgar's Cello Concerto (see review), the Arkansas Symphony led by David Itkin performing both Korngold and Saint-Saëns (see review), and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra with Bernard Rubenstein (Saint-Saëns 1 and 2).

A special highlight of this busy time was his appearance with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra led by David Wiley where they recorded both of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerti for later release on compact disc.

In addition listeners across the country were treated to Zuill's appearance with pianist Awadagin Pratt on Minnesota Public Radio's Saint Paul Sunday.  If you missed the program originally aired on October 16, you can listen to it at:  http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/programs/573/

Mr. Bailey finished October with a recital at Hendrix College in Arkansas and a special recital to benefit the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra.

(November 2005)

Cellist ZUILL BAILEY's solo debut on Delos is "playing of strong character and sometimes blistering bravura...but there's plenty of subtlety and inwardness, too." -BBC Music Magazine As for his recording of the Korngold Cello Concerto on ASV, which was released last fall: "Zuill Bailey proves a suberbly stylish soloist...what a wonderfully compact and affecting work this is!" -Gramophone Magazine (January 2004)