Johann Sebastian Paetsch
Encyclopedia
Johann Sebastian Paetsch (born in Colorado Springs, U.S.
on April 11, 1964) is an American cellist and musician
.
studies with his father, Günther Paetsch (who was also a cellist), at the age of 5, and gave his first recital when he was 6 years old. His extensive experience in chamber music
began early in childhood with his large and talented family of 9. His three sisters Phebe, Michaela
and Brigitte and his three brothers Christian, Englebert and Siegmund all learned string instruments. He learned and performed almost the entire chamber music repertoire for strings
with his family The Paetsch Chamber Music Ensemble in many concerts throughout the U.S.
with the principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony, Arkady Orlovsky, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree Cum Laude. He then furthered his cello studies at Yale University
in New Haven, Connecticut with the famous cellist and teacher Aldo Parisot
, where he earned his Certificate of Music Degree and later his Master’s Degree in Music. He then went on to study in Germany at the Musikhochschule Lübeck
with David Geringas
where he received his ‘Konzertexamen’. He has participated in masterclasses with cellists such as Yo-Yo Ma
, Mstislav Rostropovich
, Janos Starker
, Greenhouse and Mischa Maisky
. As a member of the ‘Yale Cellists,’ he took part in the recording of two world- famous CD’s.
in the Emmanuel Feuermann Competition
and the first place in the Young Musicians Foundation Competition
in Los Angeles, CA. He was also highly successful in the ARD
Competition, Munich, in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow
and in the Rostropovitch Competition
, held in Paris.
Renowned not only for his technical skill but also for a gorgeous profundity of tone
and deep insight musicality, Johann Sebastian Paetsch has the pleasure of a distinguished international career
as one of the foremost cellists of his generation, performing regularly in Japan
, Europe
and the Americas
. He has collaborated with prominent artists such as Vadim Repin
, Gidon Kremer
, Jean-Bernard Pommier
, Eduard Brunner
and the Wilanow Quartet.
As soloist, he has taken stage in many important capitals of the world, showing no hesitation in performing the concertos such as Haydn, Dvorak, Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, Schumann
, and Tchaikovsky. His performances and recordings of the Double Concerto (Brahms)
in collaboration with sister and violin
ist Michaela Paetsch
, have taken place in the USA, Canada, Switzerland
and in Germany
. He has been featured soloist with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
in performances and recordings of great pieces such as Boccherini, Camille Saint-Saëns
, Kabalevsky and the two Haydn
Concertos, as well as Don Quixote (Strauss)
with conductor Alain Lombard.
Since 1992 Paetsch has served as First Solo Cellist of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
in Lugano, Switzerland. With the Trio Ceresio
, he performs regularly.
wrote that "Paetsch brought great intensity and depth of understanding to this complex work.... the second movement was exquisitely eerie. His multiple-stop work stood out both for its lyrical beauty and technical excellence."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on April 11, 1964) is an American cellist and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Early musical education
Paetsch began his celloCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
studies with his father, Günther Paetsch (who was also a cellist), at the age of 5, and gave his first recital when he was 6 years old. His extensive experience in chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
began early in childhood with his large and talented family of 9. His three sisters Phebe, Michaela
Michaela Paetsch
Michaela Paetsch Neftel is an American violinist who was born in Colorado Springs. She is known for being the first female in the world to have recorded all 24 Paganini Caprices for solo violin.-Early life:...
and Brigitte and his three brothers Christian, Englebert and Siegmund all learned string instruments. He learned and performed almost the entire chamber music repertoire for strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
with his family The Paetsch Chamber Music Ensemble in many concerts throughout the U.S.
Formal musical education
Paetsch studied at Butler UniversityButler University
Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...
with the principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony, Arkady Orlovsky, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree Cum Laude. He then furthered his cello studies at Yale University
Yale School of Music
The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....
in New Haven, Connecticut with the famous cellist and teacher Aldo Parisot
Aldo Parisot
Aldo Simoes Parisot is a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher, was formerly a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and currently is serving as a professor of music at the Yale School of Music....
, where he earned his Certificate of Music Degree and later his Master’s Degree in Music. He then went on to study in Germany at the Musikhochschule Lübeck
Musikhochschule Lübeck
The Lübeck Academy of Music in Lübeck, Germany, is the only higher level music school in the northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. The school is located in the World Heritage city of Lübeck, a historic hanseatic city. The school was founded in 1973 but its tradition goes back to 1911. The...
with David Geringas
David Geringas
David Geringas is a world-renowned cellist and conductor who studied under Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1970 he won the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition...
where he received his ‘Konzertexamen’. He has participated in masterclasses with cellists such as Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, Janos Starker
János Starker
János Starker |Kingdom of Hungary]]) is a Hungarian-American cellist. Since 1958 he has taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor.- Child prodigy :...
, Greenhouse and Mischa Maisky
Mischa Maisky
Mischa Maisky is a Latvian cellist.Maisky began studies at the Leningrad Conservatory and later with Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory whilst pursuing a concert career throughout the Soviet Union. In 1966 he won 6th Prize at the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition. In 1970,...
. As a member of the ‘Yale Cellists,’ he took part in the recording of two world- famous CD’s.
Awards and recognition
A recipient of numerous prizes, Paetsch was awarded a top prizePrize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
in the Emmanuel Feuermann Competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
and the first place in the Young Musicians Foundation Competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
in Los Angeles, CA. He was also highly successful in the ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
Competition, Munich, in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and in the Rostropovitch Competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
, held in Paris.
Renowned not only for his technical skill but also for a gorgeous profundity of tone
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
and deep insight musicality, Johann Sebastian Paetsch has the pleasure of a distinguished international career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
as one of the foremost cellists of his generation, performing regularly in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. He has collaborated with prominent artists such as Vadim Repin
Vadim Repin
Vadim Repin is a Belgian Russian violinist who currently lives in Austria....
, Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer
Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,...
, Jean-Bernard Pommier
Jean-Bernard Pommier
Jean-Bernard Pommier , is a French pianist and conductor.- Biography :Pommier studied conducting at the Conservatoire de Paris with Yves Nat, Pierre Sancan and Eugene Bigot....
, Eduard Brunner
Eduard Brunner
Eduard Brunner is a classical clarinetist. He began his musical education in Basel , where he was born, continuing his studies at the Paris Conservatoire with Louis Cahuzac...
and the Wilanow Quartet.
Life and career
Paetsch married his long-time girlfriend, Yoko Miyagawa, a violinist, in 1994. They have three children, Raphaela, Valentina and Dominic.As soloist, he has taken stage in many important capitals of the world, showing no hesitation in performing the concertos such as Haydn, Dvorak, Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
, and Tchaikovsky. His performances and recordings of the Double Concerto (Brahms)
Double Concerto (Brahms)
The Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms is a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra.- Origin of the work :The Double Concerto was Brahms' final work for orchestra. It was composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year in the Gürzenich in Köln,...
in collaboration with sister and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Michaela Paetsch
Michaela Paetsch
Michaela Paetsch Neftel is an American violinist who was born in Colorado Springs. She is known for being the first female in the world to have recorded all 24 Paganini Caprices for solo violin.-Early life:...
, have taken place in the USA, Canada, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He has been featured soloist with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the Auditorio RSI....
in performances and recordings of great pieces such as Boccherini, Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Kabalevsky and the two Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
Concertos, as well as Don Quixote (Strauss)
Don Quixote (Strauss)
Don Quixote, Op. 35, is a composition by Richard Strauss for cello, viola and large orchestra. Subtitled Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters , the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897...
with conductor Alain Lombard.
Since 1992 Paetsch has served as First Solo Cellist of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the Auditorio RSI....
in Lugano, Switzerland. With the Trio Ceresio
Trio Ceresio
The Trio Ceresio is an internationally renowned Swiss classical music piano trio founded in Lugano, Switzerland, which has performed worldwide much of the piano trio repertoire.Its current members are:* Anthony Flint, violin* Johann Sebastian Paetsch, cello...
, he performs regularly.
Critical reception
Paetsch's work has been well received by a music critics worldwide. A writer from the Lübecker Nachrichten wrote "...a brilliant virtuoso piece which demanded all the finesse of everything that one could imagine from a cellist, delighted the audience and brought them to a thundering applause." A review in The Strad magazine applauded his cellistic abilities, saying he was "A CELLIST of extraordinary flair...His playing is at once stylish and communicative and of virtuoso stamp." In addition, a music critic from The New Haven RegisterThe New Haven Register
The New Haven Register is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Journal Register Company of Yardley, Pennsylvania. The Register's main office is located at 40 Sargent Drive in New Haven....
wrote that "Paetsch brought great intensity and depth of understanding to this complex work.... the second movement was exquisitely eerie. His multiple-stop work stood out both for its lyrical beauty and technical excellence."