Raphael Wallfisch is a
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
cellistThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
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Wallfisch was born into a family of distinguished musicians, his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch and his mother the cellist
Anita Lasker-WallfischAnita Lasker-Wallfisch is a German-born cellist of world renown and is a surviving member of the Women's Orchestra in Auschwitz....
, who is one of the last known surviving members of the
Girl orchestra of AuschwitzThe Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz or Girls' Orchestra of Auschwitz was a female orchestra at Auschwitz concentration camp created in June 1943 by a Polish music teacher, Mrs. Zofia Czajkowska, by order of the SS. The members were prisoner girls, whose membership in the orchestra protected them...
. It quickly became clear in Wallfisch's childhood that he would dedicate his life to the cello, and thus he was provided, from the outset, with the guidance of such teachers as
Amaryllis FlemingAmaryllis Marie-Louise Fleming was a British cello performer and teacher.- Early life and education :...
, Amadeo Baldovino, and
Derek SimpsonDerek Simpson was an English cellist, known primarily from his work with the Aeolian Quartet, and as the teacher of many contemporary cellists.-Career:...
. Today, Wallfisch is in high demand as a performer and a teacher throughout the world, and in particular, he has been appointed to the faculties of the Konservatorium Zürich Winterthur and the Musikhochschule Mainz. A prizewinner at the International Gaspar Cassadó Cello Competition in
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Wallfisch has made
CDThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
recordings of almost the entire cello repertoire, including works by
BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
,
FinziGerald Raphael Finzi was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a song-writer, but also wrote in other genres...
,
ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, and
TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
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His wife is the Australian Baroque violinist
Elizabeth WallfischElizabeth Wallfisch is an Australian Baroque violinist.Wallfisch debuted as a concert soloist at the age of 12 and took part in such competitions as the ABC Concerto Competition. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Grinke and was awarded, among other prizes, the President's...
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