Profile

Biography

For Steuart Pincombe, music is a conversation across centuries. Whether in Europe’s great concert halls, a neighborhood brewery, or a converted barn in rural Missouri, he seeks to invite audiences into a shared experience of curiosity, beauty and connection. His performances—on modern and baroque cello and viola da gamba—have earned an international reputation for imagination, historical insight and expressive depth. The Philadelphia Inquirer has praised him as "a gorgeous player with perfect intonation, imaginative phrasing," while The Strad has described him as "a superb soloist." Few works have shaped Pincombe’s artistic life more deeply than J.S. Bach's six cello suites. Widely regarded as one of today's leading interpreters of the suites, he has found particular joy in sharing these masterpieces with audiences far from the traditional concert circuit.

Pincombe has been regularly featured as a soloist and chamber musician in many leading concert halls across Europe and North America, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Concertgebouw Brugge, RADIALSYSTEM V Berlin, Bozar Brussels, Carnegie Hall, and The Kennedy Center, though he is just as happy sharing Bach in a neighborhood brewery. His collaborators have included Shuann Chai, Mira Glodeanu, and Shunske Sato. As a soloist he has appeared with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (DE), Holland Baroque (NL), Wallfisch Band (UK), Symphonie Atlantique (NL), and Apollo’s Fire (US). His innovative concert programs have received numerous accolades, and his wide-ranging solo album “the cello in my life” was awarded the Edison Klassiek Discovery Award. Today, Pincombe is principal cellist of Philharmonie Austin and serves on the summer faculty of the Fredericksburg Music Festival and School in Texas. Together with his wife, he founded Farmata, a concert series held in their barn in rural Missouri.