In the second installment of our festival artist Q&A series, we spoke with Israeli-American cellist Amit Peled. From a rural upbringing in Israel to performing at Carnegie Hall, Peled is a strong personality and an engaging performer known for breaking down the audience/performer barrier by explaining the pieces or telling stories.
Peled studied with Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory and also with Bernard Greenhouse, a former student of the legendary Pablo Casals. In 2012 he was given the honor of playing Pablo Casals’ 1733 Gofriller cello. Currently, he is on tour with the instrument giving recitals of Bach, Schumann and a piece composed for him by Lera Auerbach; this work — La Suite dels Ocells — was premiered by Peled in November of this past year at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Peled, a professor of cello at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, now calls Baltimore home.