Darrett Adkins

Cello

DARRETT ADKINS, cellist, enjoys a great breadth of musical activity as a soloist and chamber musician. The Boston Globe has described him as ‘fiery’ and The New York Times wrote that his debut recital was “heroic” and “stunning.” His appetite for bridging established tradition and the avant-garde enables him to explore repertoire in almost every genre, from the classical cannon to the contemporary frontier. Recent presentations of his Hypersuite, a ground-breaking hybrid program interweaving solo Bach works with contemporary pieces inspired by them, have riveted both listeners and critics. His first Hypersuite CD was released in 2013 on Oberlin Music.  Forthcoming on Oberlin Music is a 3-concerto CD, featuring newly commissioned concertos from Philip Cashian and Su Lian Tan, as well as Richard Wernick’s Concerto for Cello and 9 Instruments. The Cashian Concerto was separately released in the UK in 2013 and the Sunday Times named it one of the top 10 CDs of the year. His recording of duos by Ravel, Kodaly and Sessions for violin and cello with Gil Morgenstern was a top 10 Amazon CD. In 2011, Adkins joined the Lions Gate Trio, which is in residence at the Hartt School and performs regularly in the US and Europe. Their recent CD features trios by Ravel, Ives and Rebecca Clarke.

Internationally, Adkins was named ‘Cellist of Honor’ at the Rio de Janeiro International Cello Encounter, where he gave master classes, recitals and concerto performances. He also appeared in Natal, Brazil, for the Semana de Musica. Winner of the Cultural Arts Grant from the American Scandinavian Society, he has performed many Norwegian works and with Norwegian musicians, including a performance of Nordheim’s Clamavi for King Harald in Oslo.  He has performed Wallin’s Concerto Grund at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, and Nordheim’s concerto Tenebrae at Alice Tully Hall, both with Per Brevig conducting. In Korea, Adkins has appeared in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Haydn’s C Major Concerto and the Brahms Double Concerto (Seoul) and performed in recital on Korean national television. He has performed in Tokyo’s Orchard Hall with the Tokyo Philharmonic and throughout Japan in recital and concertos. As a chamber musician, he has appeared at the Melbourne, Australia Festival, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, and throughout Europe.

Adkins performs both standard and contemporary concerti with numerous orchestras, including the Tokyo Philharmonic, Tochio Soloisten, Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Aspen Chamber Symphony, The Suwon Philharmonic, Seoul’s Prime Orchestra, Cleveland’s Red {an orchestra}, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and the North Carolina and New Hampshire Symphony Orchestras. He gave the first New York performance of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XIV which he has recorded for Naxos’ complete Sequenzas collection. He also performed the first New York Performance of Messiaen’s Concerto for 4 Instruments at Carnegie Hall. In high demand as a chamber performer, Adkins performs regularly on prominent chamber concert series and has recorded the string quintet by Jay Greenberg with the Juilliard String Quartet for SONY/BMG. From 1997 until 2002, Adkins was a member of Flux, an internationally-acclaimed string quartet dedicated to cutting-edge music, appearing in major festivals in New York, Melbourne (Australia), Southern California (Ojai), and Oslo. From 1998-2008 Adkins was a member of the Zephyr Trio featuring Lady Jeanne Galway (flute) and Jonathan Feldman (piano). Adkins has recorded for the Oberlin Music, NMC, Centaur, Mode, SONY/BMG, Naxos, RCA, Tzadik, Koch, MMC, Engine Company and CRI labels.