Met Musicians - The MET Orchestra: Cellos

“Still, in the epilogue of the "Immolation Scene" from Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" at the concert's end, with the full orchestra in full cry and Mr. Levine coaxing ecstatic arches of sound from his violins, the results were spectacular.”

— The New York Times,
John Rockwell,
May 5, 1991.

The MET Orchestra

CELLOS	Back to Orchestra Roster >>>
Jerry Grossman — Principal (Biography to come)
Rafael Figueroa — Principal Principal cellist with the Metropolitan opera since 1995, Rafael Figueroa has appeared as a soloist and as a chamber musician throughout the U.S. , Europe , South and Central Americas, Korea and Japan. He is the winner of many distinguished competitions and awards including the First Prize at the Gregor Piatigorsky Competition in Boston, The Bronze Medal at the International Pablo Casals Competition in Budapest and winner of the concerto competition at the Third American Cello Congress. Rafael Has been a frequent soloist with the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico as well as the Casals Festival in Tokyo, The Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Aspen Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, the Musique et Vin Festival in Burgundy and the Cape Cod Chamber music Festival. Rafael made his Carnegie Hall solo debut together with concertmaster David Chan and The Met Orchestra in the Brahms Double concerto led by James Levine to critical acclaim. He completed his studies at Indiana University under Janos Starker and Gary Hoffman. .
Dorothea Noack — Associate Principal German Cellist Dorothea Noack is currently in her tenth season at the Met as Associate Principal Cellist, having won the audition shortly after receiving a Master Degree from Juilliard (2001 Shapiro). She also holds Diplomas both in Violoncello and Pedagogy with highest honors from Leipzig Hochschule (Moosdorf), and studied at CNSM de Paris with the Sokrates Scholarship of the European Union (Philippe Muller). Highlights of her musical career include: Active participation in the Third World Cello Congress, Tours in Europe and both Americas with Verbier Festival Orchestra and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra, First National Prize "Jugend musiziert" Winner with Cello Quartet, and Winner of the Citibank Music Prize Competition with solo performances in the sold out Gewandhaus Hall Leipzig (Dvorak in 2000 and Haydn D in 2004). She enjoys teaching and has been appointed cello coach of the International Verbier Festival Orchestra since 2009. .
Joel Noyes — Assistant Principal Cellist Joel Noyes joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2002. An avid chamber musician, Joel has appeared throughout the United States at such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Bargemusic, Ltd. During recent summers, he has performed at festivals including Marlboro Music, La Jolla Summerfest, Sarasota, Taos, and Music from Angel Fire, and has collaborated with many of the world's leading chamber musicians. Born into a musical family, he began playing the cello at the age of three under the tutelage of his father. Joel graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with David Soyer. .
Marian Heller Native New Yorker, Marian Heller, was a cello student of Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School . Upon graduation, she became a member of the Bangor String Quartet, followed by six years in the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. She joined the Met Orchestra 34 years ago. Over the years she has participated in numerous chamber music performances with, among other, the Juilliard Quartet, Josef Gingold, William Primrose and Itzhak Perlman. Marian is married to Richard Nass, formally solo english horn with the Met for 48 years. .
Kari Jane Docter Kari Jane Docter, cello, is a native of Minneapolis, MN. She was a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, and graduated magna cum lauda from Rice University, where she studied with Norman Fischer. Upon graduation from Juilliard, as a masters' student of Joel Krosnick, Kari entered the professional orchestra scene, which took her from the New World Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Utah Symphony, to the Minnesota Orchestra, where she played two seasons. In the fall of 2002, she joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. A lover of chamber music, Kari has been heard at such prestigious music festivals as Marlboro, Tanglewood, and the Grand Teton Music Festival, as well as on the smaller stages of Carnegie Hall with the MET Chamber Ensemble. She can be seen on Wynton Marsalis' PBS series, "Marsalis on Music" performing with Yo-Yo Ma. .
James Kreger Recipient of numerous honors, including the Piatigorsky Award and a top prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, James Kreger's New York Carnegie Hall debut was heralded by The New York Times as "a memorable event." Featured at major world music festivals such as the Casals, Mostly Mozart, Marlboro, Tanglewood, and Dubrovnik, he has collaborated with James Levine in chamber music at the Ravinia Festival and has been a guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Greatly influenced by his work with Pablo Casals and Gregor Piatigorsky, Kreger taught at Juilliard for nearly three decades and has released a number of recordings highlighted by two CD's of cello concerti with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. A published author, one of his most widely read articles is a tribute to Maestro Carlos Kleiber and his legendary relationship with his favorite orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. .
Samuel Magill Cellist Samuel Magill has been a member of the Met Orchestra since 1991. Praised by the New York Times in 2010 for his "...unimpeachable reading" of the Poulenc Cello Sonata, he has had a rich and varied career as soloist and chamber musician. His first Naxos CD of the Vernon Duke Cello Concerto was hailed as "flat-out magnificent" by the American Record Guide, while The Strad wrote in 2010 of his world premier recording of Franco Alfano's Cello Sonata "...Magill's husky, dark timbre matches the Cello Sonata's yearning intensity to perfection." The CD was named one of the "Ten Best Recordings of 2009" by Gene Gaudette's blog www.synaphai.com. Sam has appeared as soloist throughout Japan and the US, including performances of the Schumann Concerto and Brahms Double Concerto in Tokyo's Suntory Hall and in Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Magill was born and raised in North Carolina and was educated at the Peabody Institute and Rice University. He was a member of both the Houston and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras and has taught at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. .
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