Ilya Finkelshteyn Named Principal Cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has a history of distinguished principal cellists, among them Peter Wylie, John Sharp, Desmond Hoebig and Eric Kim.
   The newest, announced today by the CSO, is Ilya Finkelshteyn.
   He succeeds Kim, who is leaving the CSO the end of this season to join the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington.
   A native of Russia, where he began his studies at the Special Music School at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Sergei Chemyadiev, Finkelshteyn, 37, comes to Cincinnati from the Baltimore Symphony, where has been principal cellist since 2002.


(photo by Katya Chilingiri)   After immigrating to the U.S. he studied at the University of Minnesota with Tanya Remenikova and the Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro.  Winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, he was soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra on tour and also with the Baltimore, St. Louis and Detroit Symphonies.   He has appeared at the Aspen, Marlboro and Mostly Mozart music festivals and collaborated with such artists as Andras Schiff, Hilary Hahn, David Soyer, Richard Goode, Joseph Silverstein, Steven Ansell, Harold Robinson and Vadim Repin.
   His appointment is effective in September, 2009.