The rockefeller university

Pieter Wispelwey is among the few performers who are equally at ease on the modern or the period cello. His acute stylistic awareness, original interpretation and technical mastery has won the hearts of critics and the public alike in repertoire ranging from Bach to Schnittke.

Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, Mr. Wispelwey’s sophisticated musical personality is rooted in the training he received: from early years with Dicky Boeke and Anner Bylsma in Amsterdam to Paul Katz in the United States and William Pleeth in Great Britain. In 1992 he became the first cellist to receive the Netherlands Music Prize.

Mr. Wispelwey’s career spans five continents and he has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Mr. Wispelwey’s recordings of the complete Bach Cello Suites was released in September along with a DVD featuring concert performances, interviews and debates with Mr. Wispelwey and eminent Bach scholars.


Warmly acknowledged for her imaginative and insightful performances, Lois Shapiro has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and abroad. She is a recipient of the prestigious Concert Artists Guild Award and has been a finalist in the Affiliate Artists Competition.

Since 1995, Ms. Shapiro and her piano trio Triple Helix have given numerous highly acclaimed concerts and lecture recitals and were chosen as Musicians of the Year in 2000 by The Boston Globe. They have been Artists in Residence at Wellesley College since 1999.
     
A former piano instructor at Smith College, Brandeis University and the New England Conservatory, Ms. Shapiro has an abiding interest in inspiring young people; in collaboration with Bard College’s Longy School of Music, she created a series of family classical music programs in which she has performed. She is also a 2011 recipient of an “alumniVentures” award from the Yale University School of Music to create and implement interdisciplinary programs in the Boston public schools.