Meet Our Musicians: Jacques-Pierre Malan, Principal Cello
COME AND SEE JP AND THE REST OF YOUR MSO STRING QUINTET PERFORM IN FEBRUARY AS PART OF OUR ENSEMBLE SERIES!
The concerts will be held on February 10th at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth, DE and on February 11th at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD.
Internationally prize-winning, South African cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan is known as a “tour de force” player with “vibrant musicality” (Beeld). Mr. Malan is an Artist-in-Residence at the Embassy Series in Washington D.C. where he engages with the Embassies not only as a soloist and chamber musician, but as a producer, developing concert programs with humanitarian themes.
With a passion for chamber music, Mr. Malan has performed extensively on stages spanning multiple continents. He is the founder of the Embassy String Quartet, and a member of Serafin Ensemble based in Wilmington, DE. He has had the opportunity to collaborate with such players as Ivry Gitlis, Anthony McGill, Victor Yampolsky, and Jonathan Carney, among many others. Select chamber music engagements include performances on the Four Seasons Music Festival, Stellenbosch International Chamber Festival, Venetian Arts Society, Arts Club of Washington, Casa Labia Series in Cape Town, Worcester Music Society, and Erin Hall in Roedenbosch.
As a concerto soloist, Mr. Malan has performed with Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Mid Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, FreeState Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Conductors Orchestra, and the South African National Youth Orchestra. With the Creative Concert Group, he premiered a new arrangement of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with string quartet accompaniment. Mr. Malan is currently principal cello of Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Opera Society, and was formerly the assistant principal position of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2013, as a member of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mr. Malan was selected to perform for the funeral of the South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Earning a Masters Degree in cello performance and a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody Conservatory at John Hopkins University, Mr. Malan studied under the tutelage of Amit Peled (principal teacher), Alan Stepansky, Seth Knopp, and Michael Kannen. Graduating with honors, he received a Bachelors of Music from the University of Pretoria in South Africa studying with Heleen Du Plessis, and a Performance Licentiate from the University of South Africa. He has been a prize-winner in such competitions as the Yale Gordan String Competition, SAMRO Bursary Competition, Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Competition, and Baltimore Music Club Competition. Mr. Malan currently holds faculty positions at the Bryn Mawr School and the Nelly Berman School of Music, and maintains a private cello studio.