Alisa Weilerstein
Cello
"It’s a tricky balance to respect the knowledge that we have now about the way they supposedly played in those times, and yet be able to express ourselves freely and respectfully."
Alisa Weilerstein, New York Times, April 2017
Alisa Weilerstein
- Biography
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- Programme
- Schedule
- Discography
- Videos
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Biography
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Alisa Weilerstein is widely recognized as one of the most compelling cellists of her generation. Renowned for her consummate artistry, emotional commitment, and exceptional interpretive depth, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship—commonly known as the "Genius Grant"—in 2011. Today, her career is taking her to the world's leading concert halls and festivals for solo recitals, chamber music, and concerto appearances, including Carnegie Hall, the Verbier Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, Severance Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Kennedy Center, and the Tanglewood Music Festival. She regularly collaborates with distinguished conductors and musicians including Franz Welser-Möst, Gustavo Dudamel, Lahav Shani, Karina Canellakis, Alan Gilbert, Alain Altinoglu, Ryan Bancroft, Daniel Harding, Joshua Weilerstein, Leonidas Kavakos, Kirill Gerstein, and Inon Barnatan.
„Weilerstein is truly a phenomenon.”UK Telegraph
For the 2026/27 season, Alisa serves as Artist-in-Residence with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She also tours with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and appears as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. During the season, she collaborates with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano, Rafael Payare, Hannu Lintu, Ryan Bancroft, Cristian Măcelaru, James Gaffigan, and Paavo Järvi.
„Weilerstein is a throwback to an earlier age of classical performers: not content merely to serve as a vessel for the composer’s wishes, she inhabits a piece fully and turns it to her own ends”New York Times
This season also marks the Asian debut of Alisa's acclaimed Fragments project. The six-part concert cycle interweaves Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites with 27 specially commissioned contemporary works, presented within a bespoke theatrical production featuring original staging and lighting design. Following acclaimed performances at Southbank Centre (during her 2025/26 residency), Carnegie Hall, De Doelen in Rotterdam, and the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Fragments now travels to Asia for the first time. In addition, she gives recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Tivoli Festival.
Highlights of the past two seasons include concerto appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. She also gave the world premieres of cello concertos by Thomas Larcher with the New York Philharmonic and Gabriela Ortiz with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Highlights of the past two seasons include concerto appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. She also gave the world premieres of cello concertos by Thomas Larcher with the New York Philharmonic and Gabriela Ortiz with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
„Weilerstein’s cello is her id. She doesn’t give the impression that making music involves will at all. She and the cello seem simply to be one and the same”Los Angeles Times
As an authority on Bach’s music for unaccompanied cello, in spring 2020 Weilerstein released a best-selling recording of his solo suites for Pentatone, streamed them in her innovative #36DaysOfBach project, and deconstructed his beloved G-major prelude in a Vox.com video, now viewed more than 2.2 million times. Her discography also includes chart-topping albums and the winner of BBC Music’s “Recording of the Year” award.
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at nine years old, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. She lives with her husband, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and their two young children.
2026/2027
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at nine years old, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. She lives with her husband, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and their two young children.
2026/2027
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.
Images
© Marco Borggreve
© Marco Borggreve
© Marco Borggreve
Programme
2027 / 2028
You’ll find the current programmes in the IMPRESARIUM of the 27/28 season
Schedule
16/10/2026
19:30 h
19:30 h
Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts
Pittsburgh, United States
Pittsburgh, United States
Alisa Weilerstein, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Juraj Valčuha
31/10/2026
20:15 h
20:15 h
Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alisa Weilerstein, Netherlands Philharmonic, Hannu Lintu
02/11/2026
20:15 h
20:15 h
Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alisa Weilerstein, Netherlands Philharmonic, Hannu Lintu
28/11/2026
19:30 h
19:30 h
Musikverein, Großer Saal
Wien, Austria
Wien, Austria
Alisa Weilerstein, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Fabien Gabel
29/11/2026
15:30 h
15:30 h
Musikverein, Großer Saal
Wien, Austria
Wien, Austria
Alisa Weilerstein, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Fabien Gabel
30/11/2026
19:30 h
19:30 h
Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Großer Saal
St. Pölten, Austria
St. Pölten, Austria
Alisa Weilerstein, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Fabien Gabel
02/12/2026
19:00 h
19:00 h
Symphony Hall Birmingham
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Alisa Weilerstein, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Joshua Weilerstein
Discography
Shostakovich: Cello Concertos
Dmitri Shostakovich
Cello Concertos No. 1 & 2
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Pablo Heras-Casado - Conductor
Cello Concertos No. 1 & 2
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Pablo Heras-Casado - Conductor
Rachmaninov & Chopin
Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 19
Vocalise, Op 34, No. 14
Frédéric Chopin
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 65
12 Etudes, Op. 25
Introduction & Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3
Inon Barnatan - Piano
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 19
Vocalise, Op 34, No. 14
Frédéric Chopin
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 65
12 Etudes, Op. 25
Introduction & Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3
Inon Barnatan - Piano
Elgar, Carter & Bruch: CelloCconcertos
Edward Elgar
Cello Concerto op. 85
Elliot Carter
Cello Concerto
Max Bruch
Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 for Cello & Orchestra
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor
Cello Concerto op. 85
Elliot Carter
Cello Concerto
Max Bruch
Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 for Cello & Orchestra
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor
Alisa Weilerstein - Solo
Zoltán Kodály
Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8
Osvaldo Golijov
Omaramor for Solo Cello
Gaspar Cassado
Suite for Solo Cello
Bright Sheng
Seven Tunes Heard in China
Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8
Osvaldo Golijov
Omaramor for Solo Cello
Gaspar Cassado
Suite for Solo Cello
Bright Sheng
Seven Tunes Heard in China
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Antonin Dvorak
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Rondo in G minor, Op. 94
Silent Woods, Op. 68/5
Anna Polonsky - Piano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiri Belohlavek - Conductor
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Rondo in G minor, Op. 94
Silent Woods, Op. 68/5
Anna Polonsky - Piano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiri Belohlavek - Conductor
Elgar: Cello Concertos
Richard Wagner
Prelude of "Meistersinger" (Act III)
Edward Elgar
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 85
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1
Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor
EuroArts, 2011
Prelude of "Meistersinger" (Act III)
Edward Elgar
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 85
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1
Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor
EuroArts, 2011
Weilerstein & Weilerstein
Niccolo Paganini
Variations on "Preghiera" From Rossini's "Mosè", for Violin & Guitar (or Piano), MS 23
Antonín Dvořák
Silent Woods (Klid), for Cello & Piano (arr. from "From the Bohemian Forest", B. 133), B. 173 (Op. 68/5)
Alberto Ginastera
Pampeana No.2, Rhapsody for Cello & Piano, Op. 21
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Songs without Words for Cello & Piano in D major, Op. 109
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pezzo capriccioso, for Cello & Orchestra (or Cello & Piano) in B minor, Op. 62
Gabriel Fauré
Après un rêve ("Dans un sommeil"), song for Voice & Piano, Op. 7/1
Leoš Janáček
Pohádka (Fairy Tale), for Cello & Piano ("The Story of Tsar Berendyey"), JW 7/5
Camille Saint-Saëns
The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 Pianos & Ensemble) and arrangements
Manuel de Falla
Suite Populaire Espagnole, for Violin & Piano (arr. from "Popular Spanish Songs" by Kochanski)
Vivan Hornik Weilerstein - Piano
EMI classics, 2000
Variations on "Preghiera" From Rossini's "Mosè", for Violin & Guitar (or Piano), MS 23
Antonín Dvořák
Silent Woods (Klid), for Cello & Piano (arr. from "From the Bohemian Forest", B. 133), B. 173 (Op. 68/5)
Alberto Ginastera
Pampeana No.2, Rhapsody for Cello & Piano, Op. 21
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Songs without Words for Cello & Piano in D major, Op. 109
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pezzo capriccioso, for Cello & Orchestra (or Cello & Piano) in B minor, Op. 62
Gabriel Fauré
Après un rêve ("Dans un sommeil"), song for Voice & Piano, Op. 7/1
Leoš Janáček
Pohádka (Fairy Tale), for Cello & Piano ("The Story of Tsar Berendyey"), JW 7/5
Camille Saint-Saëns
The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 Pianos & Ensemble) and arrangements
Manuel de Falla
Suite Populaire Espagnole, for Violin & Piano (arr. from "Popular Spanish Songs" by Kochanski)
Vivan Hornik Weilerstein - Piano
EMI classics, 2000
Videos
Alisa Weilerstein and Yoram Ish-Hurwitz play Chopin | Podium Witteman
Brahms Double Concerto • Shaham • Boston Symphony Orchestra • Guerrero
Elgar: Cello Concerto / Weilerstein · Barenboim · Berliner Philharmoniker
Links
Official Website
Instagram
YoutubeContact
