Zuill Bailey

Zuill Bailey is a Grammy Award-winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, artistic director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

A consummate concerto soloist, Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dallas, Honolulu, Nashville, Toronto, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Israel, Cape Town and the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, Austria. He has collaborated with conductors Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, Neeme Jarvi, Giancarlo Guerrero, Jun Markl, Carlos Kalmar, Andrey Boreyko, Krzysztof Urbanski, Jacques Lacombe, and Grant Llewellyn. Bailey has also been featured with musical luminaries Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, the Juilliard String Quartet, Lynn Harrell and Janos Starker.

Bailey’s demanding 2018-2019 season included: Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway with the Anchorage Symphony, the Estonian National Symphony and Orchestra Iowa; the Elgar Concerto with the Madison Symphony; the Lalo Concerto with the Wimbledon International Music Festival; Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote with the National Philharmonic and violist Roberto Díaz; and the Walton Concerto with the North Carolina Symphony; as well as chamber music appearances at the Asheville Chamber Music Series and the Howland Camber Music Circle with the Ying Quartet.

Zuill Bailey has appeared at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. Y and Carnegie Hall, where he made his concerto debut performing the United States premiere of Miklos Theodorakis’ Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra. In addition, he made his New York recital debut in a sold-out performance of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bailey also presented the U.S. premiere of Nico Muhly’s Cello Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. World premieres include works by composers including Lowell Lieberman, Phillip Lasser, Roberto Sierra, Benjamin Wallfisch and Michael Daugherty.

Bailey’s international appearances include performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia as well as concerts in Australia, the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Spain, South Africa, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. Festival appearances include Ravinia, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Manchester Cello Festival (UK), Wimbledon (UK), Consonances-St. Nazaire (France), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Deia Music Festival-Mallorca (Spain), Montreal (Canada), Santa Fe, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Bravo! Vail Valley, Maverick Concert Series, Brevard, Interlochen, Cape Cod, and the Music Academy of the West. In addition, he was the featured soloist performing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Bard Festival in the world premiere of the Doug Varrone Dance Company performance of Victorious.

Zuill Bailey’s Musical Outreach is based on the principle that great music transforms lives making Classical Music accessible to all. Bailey insures involvement in every community he visits by participating in outreach programs. He works diligently to make classical music accessible to all, primarily children, everywhere. Bailey reaches thousands through these exceptional music education presentations from university-level master classes to schools, hospitals, senior centers, libraries, museums, rehabilitation programs and prisons.

Bailey is a popular recording artist with an extensive discography. He won a best solo performance Grammy Award (2017) for his Live Recording of Tales of Hemingway by composer Michael Daugherty. This celebrated CD, recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor, also won a Grammy for best composition, Tales of Hemingway and Best Compendium. His celebrated Bach Cello Suites and Britten Cello Symphony/Sonata CD, with pianist Natasha Paremski, immediately soared to the number one spot on the Classical Billboard charts. Other critically acclaimed recordings include his live performances with the Indianapolis Symphony of the Bloch Schelomo, Muhly Cello Concerto (world premiere), Brahms Sextets with the Cypress Strings Quartet, Elgar and Dvořák Cello Concertos, described by Gramophone magazine as the new “reference” recording and one that “sweeps the board.” In addition, the Dvořák Cello Concerto CD is listed in the Penguin’s Guide as one the Top 1000 Classical Recordings of all time. Zuill Bailey’s other releases include Brahms’ complete works for cello and piano with pianist Awadagin Pratt, and Russian Masterpieces showcasing the works of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, performed with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Bailey is featured on the chart-topping Quincy Jones-produced Diversity, with pianist/composer Emily Bear. In his innovative Spanish Masters CD for Zenph Studios, he forms a unique duo blending with recordings of composer Manuel de Falla and an all-American recital program with Pianist Lara Downes on the Steinway and Sons label. His discography also includes a debut recital disc for Delos, Boccherini and Schubert Cello Quintets with Janos Starker, Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concertos No. 1 and 2 Live and the Korngold Cello Concerto with Kaspar Richter and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz for ASV.

Zuill Bailey was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni and was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation Award for 2006 and 2007 for Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano. The highly touted two-disc set with pianist Simone Dinnerstein was released on Telarc worldwide. In celebration of his recordings and appearances, Kalmus Music Masters has released Zuill Bailey Performance Editions, which encompasses the core repertoire of cello literature.

Network television appearances include a recurring role on the HBO series Oz, NBC’s Homicide, A&E, NHK TV in Japan, a live broadcast and DVD release of the Beethoven Triple Concerto performed in Tel Aviv with Itzhak Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic, and a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City. Bailey is also featured in the televised production of the Cuban premiere of Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Orchestra of Cuba. He has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, Tiny Desk Concert, Performance Today, Saint Paul Sunday, BBC’s In Tune, XM Radio’s Live from Studio II, Sirius Satellite Radio’s Virtuoso Voices, the KDFC Concert Series, KUSC, Minnesota Public Radio, WQXR’s Cafe Concert, and RTHK Radio Hong Kong.

Bailey received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and The Juilliard School. His primary teachers include Loran Stephenson, Stephen Kates and Joel Krosnick. Bailey performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive touring engagements, he is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica, the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside and Out Series-Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Photo of Zuill Bailey by Marie Mazzucco