Hamilton Cheifetz

A native of Chicago, Hamilton Cheifetz began playing cello when he was seven and first performed as soloist with orchestra at the age of eleven. He studied with Janos Starker at Indiana University and later became the teaching assistant to Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the University of Western Ontario. The winner of the Piatigorsky Prize at Tanglewood, he toured the United States and Canada on the Music from Marlboro concert series and performed at the White House. Mr.

Cheifetz has appeared as guest artist with the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Oregon, and Milwaukee, and he toured nationally with the Paul Winter Consort. He presented a solo recital in the Sydney Opera House and has often been featured on National Public Radio's ?Performance Today.? His playing was highlighted, together with jazz great Dave Frishberg and vocalist Rebecca Kilgore, on the CBS television special ?Gary Larson's Tales From the Far Side.? Recently, he performed duos in concert with Janos Starker which were broadcast on NPR, and he appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York. He is a featured artist at Chamber Music Northwest and other festivals including BargeMusic and the Oregon Bach Festival.

Since 1977, Mr. Cheifetz has been cellist of the Florestan Trio, artists-in-residence at Portland State University, where he is Professor of Music. The Florestan Trio traveled to Japan in November 1999 for their third concert tour of that country. Mr. Cheifetz was recently invited to teach as Guest Lecturer at Indiana University. He is also a member of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, the leading contemporary music group in the Pacific Northwest, and he has recorded for Koch, Delos, and Gagliano Recordings.

Hamilton Cheifetz is a member of the Subud International Cultural Association, a group of creative people working together to promote original culture and world peace.