Alistair MacRae
Cellist Alistair MacRae has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral principal throughout North America and in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. His playing has been praised for its "rich sound and lyrical phrasing" (Palm Beach Daily News) and his performances have been featured in radio broadcasts across the United States on WQXR, WWFM, WDAV, WCQS, and Vermont Public Radio.
As a New York-based chamber musician, he has appeared on Carnegie Hall's Making Music Series, as a member of Soprello, Fountain Ensemble, the Richardson Chamber Players, and the Berkshire Bach Ensemble; with the Manhattan Sinfonietta, Suedama Ensemble, and counter) induction; and at summer festivals such as the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival, Monadnock Music, and the Music Festival of the Hamptons. He has been heard at major New York chamber music venues such as Carnegie's Zankel and Weill Halls, BargeMusic, Merkin Hall, the 92nd St Y, and Miller Theatre at Columbia University. His recent seasons have included premiere performances of new works at Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; recordings of chamber music by Telemann and Laurie Altman; music for The Discovery Channel; and ensemble CDs of music by Mozart and Scott Joplin. His eclectic collaborations have found him on stage with Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Westminster Choir, tap dancer Savion Glover, jazz bassist Ben Wolfe, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, and the rock band The Scorpions.
As a passionate advocate for new music, he has commissioned and premiered many new works, collaborating closely with composers, and has performed his own compositions and arrangements in the United States and Canada.
Mr. MacRae is Principal Cello of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with such groups as the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and Harrisburg Symphony.
As a teacher, Mr. MacRae has served on the faculties of Princeton University, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College - CUNY, The College of New Jersey, and the Brevard Music Center. He has given master classes and lecture-performances at Marshall University, the University of Utah, Palm Beach Community College, and Kings College. In 2015, he will begin an appointment as Cordelia Wikarski-Miedel Artist in Residence at the University of Puget Sound.
