Felix Fan

cello

Felix Fan’s versatility has made him one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation. As a chamber musician, he’s performed with cellists Yo-Yo Ma and János Starker and violinist Gil Shaham, and he’s appeared in such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. Fan’s recent solo engagements include the San Diego Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Macau Orchestra, and Munich Chamber Orchestra. In 2006, Fan and violinist Cho-Liang Lin recorded Gordon Chin’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Kansas City Symphony, led by Music Director Michael Stern, on the Naxos label.

Fan’s interest in contemporary music has led to collaborations with today’s leading composers, including George Crumb, Tan Dun, Hans Werner Henze, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho, and Charles Wuorinen. Appearances with the Bang on a Can All-Stars has allowed Fan to work with artists as diverse as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. In 2008, Fan became the cellist for the FLUX Quartet.

In 1998, Fan founded Muzik3, a performance series and commissioning foundation dedicated to the advancement of modern music with an emphasis on integrating theater, dance, and video. Muzik3 led to the formation of Real Quiet, a trio consisting of Fan, percussionist David Cossin, and pianist Andrew Russo. Since its inception in 2004, Real Quiet has premiered more than 20 works and recorded music by Marc Mellits (Endeavour Records) and David Lang (Naxos). In 2005, Fan performed a series of radio plays written by acclaimed screenwriters Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers, starring actors Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Meryl Streep. Fan has also worked with innovative choreographers Karole Armitage, Shen Wei and Christopher Wheeldon.

Fan studied cello with Eleanore Schoenfeld (University of Southern California), János Starker (Indiana University), Aldo Parisot (Yale University), and Boris Pergamenschikow (Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany). In 1994, he was honored by Bill Clinton as a Presidential Scholar. Fan plays the “Hausmann” Stradivarius of 1724.