Joel Becktell
Cello
The Donna K. Laidlaw Chair
Cellist Joel Becktell received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was also awarded the Rubenstein Prize for Excellence in Cello Performance. His former teachers include Anne Cole, Alan Harris, and Stephen Geber. He has been a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Cellist with the Austin Symphony, and cellist with the Moveable Feast and the Nichols Quartet. Joel is a founding member of the Albuquerque-based Movable Sol concert series, and the early music period instrument concert series BWV. In addition to performing with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, he serves as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Santa Fe Symphony. He performs internationally on modern and baroque cello and violoncello piccolo. He has recorded for the Marquis Classics, Revel Records, Parma, and Blue Griffin labels. Among his CDs are Revel, a program of diverse works for cello and piano with Carla McElhaney, and Volume 1 of J.S. Bach’s Solo Suites, featuring Suites 1-3 performed twice, once on baroque cello, and once on modern cello.
Joel is also active as a studio artist, with works in ceramics, photography, and painting in private collections worldwide. His paintings are represented by the Malkerson Gallery 408 (www.gallery408.com), Artworks, CDs, and videos of past performances may be seen on his website: www.joelbecktell.com.
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