cello
Cellist James Waldo is an avid chamber musician, recitalist, and educator. Currently serving as lecturer in Cello at University of Wisconsin-Madison, James and his spouse Alyona A. Waldo concertize regularly as the A.W.Duo, a cello-piano recital team performing around the United States and China, with appearances at Lincoln Center, NYC; Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC; and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in Highlands, NC. James performs regularly with the Madison Bach Musicians, Midsummer’s Music, LunART Festival, Edgewood College Chamber Orchestra, and the Just Bach series. Before relocating to Madison, WI in 2017, James lived and worked in New York City for a decade, where he received a Master of Music degree from Mannes College under the tutelage of Timothy Eddy. While in NYC, James served as principal cellist of the Cecilia Chorus of NY from 2015-2019, and co-founded the Listen Closely Chamber Music Initiative, a collective of locally-based musicians giving free live chamber music performances in the public spaces of uptown Manhattan.
As a period-instrument specialist, James has performed with such notable figures as Monica Huggett and Brandon Acker, and was a founding member of LeStrange Viols, whose recording William Cranford: Music for 4, 5, and 6 Viols received honorable mention in The New Yorker for best releases of 2015. Highlights for this coming spring include performances of the Op. 5 Beethoven Sonatas on gut strings with fortepianist Trevor Stephenson in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison, and chamber music appearances with world-renowned period Clarinetist Eric Hoeprich.
James recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was recipient of the University Graduate Fellowship, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (Russian language), and held teaching assistantships for Music Theory, Western Music History, and History of the Delta Blues. Beyond classical music, James performed regularly with acclaimed band The Brilliance from 2014-2017, and he toured as cellist and arranger with the orchestral folk ensemble Spirits of the Red City from 2008-2014. James has performed in jazz settings including Jazz at Lincoln Center, and his playing can be heard in the soundtracks of numerous independent films. A passionate educator, James has worked with cello students of all ages and levels of experience for over 20 years.