



Welcome
“Oliver Herbert was the soloist, and he was a knockout. His technical command, full-throated but never indulgent tone, crisp yet expressive phrasing, and tactful use of vibrato flowed together.The audience adored him Thursday. A star, it seemed, was found and embraced.”
-San Francisco Classical Voice
Biography
Oliver Herbert is a concert cellist known for performances that combine intensity, clarity, and a strong sense of musical direction. The recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, his work spans solo performance, chamber music, and curatorial projects. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, working with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, Juanjo Mena, and Alexander Shelley.
Oliver approaches his projects with wide-ranging curiosity, exploring lesser-known repertoire, music of today, and connections that cast familiar works in a new light. His projects have included concert curations for Deutschlandfunk and the TICA Festival in Hong Kong, as well as premieres of works by composers such as Andrew Moses, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, and Helena Winkelman.
As a chamber musician, he appears regularly at leading festivals and venues including Marlboro Music, Verbier Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Rheingau Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Utrecht Festival, 92nd Street Y, and the Ravinia Festival. A highlight of recent seasons was a North American tour with Mitsuko Uchida and musicians from Marlboro Music, including a performance at Carnegie Hall. He has collaborated with artists such as Janine Jansen, Jonathan Biss, and Tabea Zimmermann.


"Herbert's playing took on deeply moving vocal inflections in extreme ranges, from a low of unusual richness to a delicate high.”
-Philadelphia Inquirer
Oliver’s recordings include Haydn’s D Major Cello Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, released by Warner Classics as part of highlights from MTT’s final season as music director. In June 2020, he released his debut album with pianist Xiaohui Yang, Frame of Mind: Fauré and Janáček, featuring the two cello and piano sonatas of Gabriel Fauré alongside Leoš Janáček’s Pohádka (Fairy Tale).
Oliver is the recipient of the 2017 Verbier Festival Jean-Nicolas Firmenich Prize and top prizes at the Lutosławski International Cello Competition, the Klein International String Competition, and the Stulberg International String Competition. In 2025, he was selected for the Orpheum Foundation’s development program for young soloists. He has been featured on PBS’s Now Hear This, NPR’s From the Top, Deutschlandfunk, and German radio including WDR, HR, and ARD, as well as the online interview series Living the Classical Life.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Colburn School, Oliver studied with Carter Brey, Pamela Frank, Clive Greensmith, and Peter Wiley. He is currently a student of Frans Helmerson in the Professional Studies Program at the Kronberg Academy, generously supported by the Nanno Lenz Patronage. He plays on a Guadagnini cello that once belonged to the great Italian cellist Antonio Janigro, on generous loan from the Janigro family.


Oliver Herbert, Xiaohui Yang - Frame of Mind: Fauré and Janáček (Album Trailer)
Debut Album out now!
Oliver Herbert and Xiaohui Yang’s recording of the cello sonatas by Gabriel Fauré and Leoš Janáček’s Pohádka (Fairy Tale) has arrived. This marks Oliver's recording debut, an ambitious independent project in collaboration with audio engineer Drew Schlegel, producer Ronaldo Rolim, and visual artist Jeong Im Yi, creator of the original artwork for the album cover.

Next up
- Chamber Music Society Palm BeachThu, Mar 30West Palm Beach
- Knoxville SymphonyFri, Jan 20Knoxville
- Knoxville SymphonyThu, Jan 19Knoxville
