International Artists 2024

 American cellist Daniel Gaisford enjoys a career that has expanded over 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher.  Hailed by the New York Times as “transfixing,” and The Philadelphia Inquirer as “remarkable." After hearing Gaisford perform, the Senior Editor at the National Review and Critic for The New Criterion Jay Nordlinger wrote...  "Gaisford is an American cellist and not well known. Why this is so is a mystery - and it teaches us something about the music business. When I first heard Gaisford in Philadelphia, I was stunned: How could there be so good a cellist I had never heard, or even heard of?  Evidently, not ever master is on the covers of magazines, or the covers of CDs; some have unorthodox careers. Gaisford has a formidable technique and a formidable mind.  He can make a hundred sounds : fat, thin, spiky, lyrical, rich, sickly, piercing, warm.  On the Barge series in New York, Gaisford played with a grave mien throughout.  He gave the impression that he was not merely performing a sonata, but doing something supremely important.  The Chief Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer had a similar reaction, calling Gaisford  "America's greatest unknown cellist." The New York Times also stated that "Gaisford deserves more recognition."

Gaisford continues to infuse with new life the great works of the past, while fiercely advocating for the music of our own time. As soloist, Mr. Gaisford has appeared with orchestras throughout the United States and Canada; among them the major orchestras of Saint Louis, Seattle, Toronto and Montreal, under the direction of conductors such as Robert Spano, David Zinman and Hermann Michael. Equally active as a recitalist and chamber musician, Mr. Gaisford has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad in cities ranging from New York, San Francisco and Berlin, to Boston, Rome and Tokyo. He has been a featured guest at major festivals throughout the world including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Chautauqua Festival, the Caramoor Festival, and the Davos Festival in Switzerland. Other festivals appearances include the RomaEuropa, New Jersey’s Festival of the Atlantic, Michigan’s Matrix Festival, the Prince Albert Festival in Kauai, the Aspen Music Festival and the Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado. Mr. Gaisford has been a frequent guest on radio programs around the country and his performances can be heard on NPR’s Performance Today series. In 2001, Mr. Gaisford recorded composer Michael Hersch’s Sonata No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello and gave the NY premiere at the Tisch Center for the performing Arts to great acclaim. In 2004, he recorded Hersch’s Sonata No. 2 for Unaccompanied Cello, which was dedicated to Mr. Gaisford. The performance was recorded on he Vangaurd Classics label and selected by The Washington Post as one of the most important recordings of 2005 by chief critic Tim Page.  In 2015, Last Autumn was released on Innova Records.

New releases also include the Bach Suites for Solo Cello and the Piatti Caprices for Solo Cello.  Daniel Gaisford grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah where he studied with Richard Hoyt and Gayle Smith. Further studies took him to the University of Southern California where he studied with Gabor Rejto and Ronald Leonard. Gaisford continued his studies with Harvey Shapiro and Channing Robbins at The Juilliard School of Music in New York. While at The Juilliard School of Music, Gaisford was principal cellist of the symphony orchestra and was the first prize winner of the Shostakovich Cello Competition which resulted in his Lincoln Center debut.  

Mr. Gaisford’s recordings can be found at the iTunes store and on his website, as well as many other online music vendors.

Gaisford has an online cello class of talented students and professionals and is currently in video and recording projects soon to be released.