ANDREW JANSS
CELLO
Hailed by the New York Times for his "glowing tone", "insightful musicianship", and "sumptuous elegance”, and by the Washington Post for his “amber tone”, cellist Andrew Janss' performances have taken him across four continents, to some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Louvre.
Mr. Janss has collaborated in concert with a long list of iconic artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Neubauer, Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Wu Han, Jeffrey Kahane, David Shifrin, Pepe and Angel Romero, and members of the American, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Takacs String Quartets.
He has also performed alongside chart-topping performers such as Lana Del Rey, Mary J. Blige, Estelle, Florence + the Machine, Erykah Badu, Kurt Elling, and The Roots.
In March 2012 he was invited to serve as guest principal cellist of the world-renowned Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. From 2010-12, he was an artist at the Marlboro Music Festival. Mr. Janss has been engaged as a soloist by the New West Symphony, the Astoria Symphony, and the Round Rock Symphony.
Andrew is also a sought after arranger of music of all genres. His quartet's recent performance of his arrangement of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon for singer and string quartet at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles was attended by over 5,000 people, to rave reviews.
In Fall 2010, Mr. Janss was named to the roster of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Music Ensemble. Highlight performances with the company have included premieres of new choreography in Boston, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Miami, New Orleans, and internationally in China, Italy, and the UK.
Mr. Janss was the founding cellist of the Escher Quartet, one of the most highly acclaimed string quartets of its generation. The Escher Quartet was in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as part of Chamber Music Society Two from 2007-10. During his tenure, the quartet gave debuts at the Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Santa Fe, La Jolla Summerfest, and Caramoor music festivals.
Andrew is respected nationally as a teacher and coach. He has given masterclasses at Tulane University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Idaho. During the 2007-08 school year, Mr. Janss was Visiting Lecturer in Residence at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, working closely with the famed resident Emerson String Quartet. He is the youngest faculty member in the history of the School of Music.
Mr. Janss has recorded for Albany Records, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Studio Recordings, WNYC’s Soundcheck, New York’s WQXR, and Minnesota Public Radio. Additionally, he has been heard on Los Angeles’s KUSC, Chicago’s WFMT, and numerous other radio stations across the United States.
Andrew Janss began his training on the cello at age ten with cellist Andrew Cook, and continued at the Manhattan School of Music, studying cello with David Geber, and chamber music with Sylvia Rosenberg and David Soyer, founding cellist of the Guarneri Quartet. He graduated in May 2006 with the Hugo Kortschak award for outstanding achievement in chamber music. In 2011, Andrew was accepted to the prestigious Artist Diploma program at the Manhattan School of Music, where he graduated in 2012 with the Kreuter Foundation Musical Awards.
Mr. Janss is Assistant Artistic Director of the Omega Ensemble, a chamber music series in New York City that promotes young artists in the beginning stages of major careers. He is a regular Artist Faculty member of the Gold Coast Chamber Music Festival. Get to know Andrew at www.andrewjanss.com.