The Tryon Concert Association will open the 2015-16 season on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, at 8 p.m. at the Tryon Fine Arts Center featuring cellist Zuill Bailey.

 

Bailey fell in love with the cello at the young age of four and by age 12 had decided that music would be his career. That dream came true. Today he is widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world.

 

A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and the Juillard School, Bailey has performed with major symphony orchestras here and abroad. He has collaborated with prominent string ensembles, renowned pianists, cellists and violinists, and has worked with leading conductors around the world. He is heard frequently on television and radio.

 

Bailey has appeared at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, the 92^nd Street Y and Carnegie Hall as well as orchestras in Australia, France, Israel, Spain, South Africa, Hong Kong, Mexico and Cuba, including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. He performs regularly with long-time duo partner, pianist Awadagin Pratt.

 

Recording exclusively on the Telarc label, Bailey’s CD of the Bach Cello Suites was No. 1 on the Classical Billboard Charts in 2010. His recordings also include the Brahms complete works for cello and piano with Awadagin Pratt as well as the works of Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and other great masters.

 

In 2014 Zuill Bailey was named the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni and was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation Award for 2006 and 2007 for Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano.

 

In addition to his extensive touring engagements Bailey is the artistic director of El Paso Pro-Musica and professor of cello at the University of Texas at El Paso.