German-American cellist Paul Dwyer is fortunate to have a rich musical life playing both historical and modern cello. He is Assistant Principal cello of Lyric Opera of Chicago and teaches cello and chamber music at Notre Dame University. He is a founding member of the Diderot String Quartet and ACRONYM, loves to play chamber music and collaborate with young composers.
Paul was born in Munster, Indiana, but spent the most formative years of his life (according to Freud) in Vienna, where he decided to play the double bass, but was told he’s too small. At age eight his family moved to Munich, where Paul spent most of his time playing soccer, running subversive school newspapers and transcribing Metallica songs for a heavy metal cello quartet he formed with his best friends. In 12th grade, he made his opera debut singing the role of Polyphemus in Handel's Acis and Galatea.
In 2003, Paul followed his roots back to the American Midwest for college, studying at the Oberlin Conservatory (Bachelor of Music '07) and the University of Michigan (Master of Music '08; Doctor of Musical Arts '12), where he was the recipient of a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship and a Theodore Presser Award. He also spent a year back in good old Europe as a Fulbright Fellow in Amsterdam, delving into contemporary music with Frances-Marie Uitti and baroque cello with Anner Byslma. In 2013, he completed additional graduate studies in the Historical Performance department of The Juilliard School.
"...wide-ranging and deeply expressive."
- James Oestreich, New York Times
"...magnificent, some of the best Bach playing I’ve heard anywhere."
- Allan Kozinn, Portland Press Herald
BACH CELLO SUITES: ODDS
Bear Machine Records
Released Fall 2019
A dream project... and what a journey it's been!
I've loved Bach's six cello suites since I was a kid and have played them throughout my life in places and settings I could never have imagined. Recording them is such an honor and pleasure.
We released the ODDS (suites 1, 3, 5) in September and I recorded suites 2 and 4 in December in Los Angeles. Suite 6 is written for a 5-string cello, so I'll be borrowing one in NYC and heading back to the studio to finish the EVENS this summer.
COVID-19: CONTAGIOUS SOLITUDE
new works for cello alone
As COVID-19 fundamentally changes the world around us, our most common avenue of creating and sharing music – live performances with a physically present audience – has ceased to exist for the foreseeable future. For this hopeful project, composers have generously put their responses to this crisis into new solo cello works for me to record from home and share with you.
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