Praised for his “impressive refinement, eloquent phrasing, and singing tone” by The New York Times, American cellist Matthew Zalkind regularly performs throughout the United States and abroad as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. Zalkind was awarded First Prize in the Washington International Competition, as well as top prizes in the Beijing International Cello Competition and Korea’s Isang Yun Gyeongnam International Competition. 

As a soloist, Zalkind has performed recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, Russia, The Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater in Washington, DC and the Beijing Concert Hall in Beijing, China. Zalkind has performed concerti with the Utah Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the Hongzhou Philharmonic, Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Tongyeong International Music Festival Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, and numerous North American orchestras. He has performed concerti with celebrated conductors Ludovic Morlot, Thierry Fischer, Giancarlo Guerrero, and David Alan Miller, among others. 

An active chamber musician, Zalkind has performed chamber music at Carnegie
Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a former member of the acclaimed Harlem String Quartet, Zalkind toured internationally with jazz legends Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Gary Burton. 

Zalkind regularly participates in numerous festivals including Marlboro and “Musicians from Marlboro” tours, Olympic Music Festival, Innsbrook Institute, Twickenham Festival, and Music from Angel Fire. With his partner Alice Yoo, Zalkind is the Co-Artistic Director of the brand-new Denver Chamber Music Festival, a destination for world class chamber music in Colorado. More information can be found at denverchambermusicfestival.org.

Mr. Zalkind is a dedicated teacher, and serves as the cello professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.  His students have established themselves on national and international concert stages.

Zalkind has Bachelors and Masters degrees from Juilliard, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. A Salt Lake City native, Zalkind’s primary mentors included Richard Hoyt, Pegsoon Whang, Timothy Eddy, Richard Aaron, and Hans Jørgen Jensen. Zalkind plays on a rare Italian cello made by Florentine Maker Luigi Piatellini in 1760.