Benjamin Hughes

Cellist / Professor

Here’s one of my recordings

British Cellist Benjamin Hughes, has made a name for himself as one of the UK’s most dynamic and versatile cellists. He is Principal Cello of the BBC Concert Orchestra and Professor of Cello and Orchestral Studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He has collaborated with many leading conductors and features regularly on BBC Radio and Television as a soloist and with the BBC CO. His concerto performances have included Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with Johannes Wildner and Gulda’s Cello Concerto with Keith Lockhart for BBC R3 and has been a featured soloist at the BBC Proms. He is in demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed regularly with the Fibonacci Sequence and performed at leading venues such as the Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, Conway Hall in London and at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Australia.  Benjamin has recorded works by Messiaen, Schubert, Elgar and Brahms with the Fibonacci Sequence for Deux-Elles and Dutton labels. Recent chamber music endeavours have taken him to Korea performing as part of the 2023 Busan Chamber Festival and as a recitalist at the Brevard Music Center where he serves on the Cello Faculty in their Parker Concert Hall International Series 2023.

He has recorded a number of world premières which include John Foulds Lento & Scherzetto for cello and orchestra, Jonny Greenwood’s Triple Concerto ‘Dog House’ and Nigel Hess’s Arise my love with the BBC Singers - an ensemble with which he recently performed as soloist in Nystedt’s-Stabat Mater, Panufnik-All Shall be well & Sven-David Sandstrom-Nordic Requiem for BBC Radio 3.

A sought after Guest Principal, he has worked with many leading Orchestra’s, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, London and also with the Vancouver Symphony and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

Benjamin can be heard on numerous movie soundtracks as a recording artist including Norwegian Wood (2011) performing as soloist with music written by Jonny Greenwood and a many BBC TV, Amazon and Netflix series.

He was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2015 and an Honorary Member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2005.

Aside from performing he has made two instruments; a natural acoustic variation on a Cello with an unusual body shape with which he won a national design competition. A semi-acoustic electric version followed and he used it to perform in a BBC Radio 3 programme dedicated to the progress of electronic music called ‘Electronica’. Another performance as electric cello soloist in Planet Earth 2 live, at the Royal Albert Hall with Jessica Cottis and Hans Zimmer.

 

Benjamin studied in the UK, Germany & the USA

with Michal Kaznowski, Alexander Baillie, Steven Doane & Colin Carr.

"one ravishing cello solo"

...Richard Morrison,

The Times

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