Rohan de Saram

A cellist and member of the Arditti Quartet, Rohan de Saram is particularly active in the field of contemporary music. Born in Sheffield on March 9, 1939, to a British family of Sri Lankan origin, he grew up in Colombo and studied the piano and a traditional percussion instrument, the kandyan, before turning to the classical cello through a teacher. He showed great talent for the instrument and entered London's Royal College of Music, attracting the attention of Pablo Casals during a stay in France and of his pupil Gaspar Cassadó, who invited him to master classes in Italy. The musician met many illustrious musicians and composers and, at the age of sixteen in 1955, won the Guilhelmina Suggia Competition, enabling him to continue his studies with John Barbirolli and Pablo Casals, before winning the Harriet Cohen International Music Award in 1956. He frequently performs in concert with the world's greatest conductors and teaches at Trinity College London, while from 1979 to 2005 he joins the Arditti Quartet, alongside his busy solo career. In addition to the classical repertoire, Rohan de Saram is an ambassador for contemporary music. He has worked on works by composers Luciano Berio, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Philip Glass, György Ligeti, Wolfgang Rihm, Sofia Goubaïdoulina, William Waxton and Iannis Xenakis, collaborated with the AMM and Markus Stockhausen, and premiered pieces by Britten, Bussotti, Maxwell Davies, Hindemith, Kagel, Nancarrow, Pousseur, Dale Roberts, Schnittke, Hosokawa and Karlheinz Stockhausen. His discography, including Bach's essential Suites for Solo Cello, includes recordings dedicated to Edmund Rubbra, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Peter Ruzicka, John Clayton Mayer and performances with Preethi De Silva. Awarded the Von Siemens Prize with the Arditti Quartet in 1999, he also founded the De Saram Clarinet Trio with his brother, pianist Druvi de Saram. His son, Suren de Saram, is drummer in the rock band Bombay Bicycle Club. Awarded the title of Deshamanya, Sri Lanka's highest civilian honor in 2005, Rohan de Saram died on September 29, 2024 at the age of 95.

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