Michael Reynolds
Michael Reynolds, cellist, began his career as the founding cellist of the Muir String Quartet. In that capacity, he tours the musical centers of North America and Europe, in addition to his activities as a professor at Boston University, where he has been in residence since 1983.
A native of Montana, he received his professional training at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of David Soyer and Martita Casals. Upon graduation, he continued his studies with Karen Tuttle and George Neikrug and attended Yale University.
Accolades he has won while with the Muir Quartet include first prize at the Evian Competition (1980), the 1981 Naumburg Award, two Grand Prix du Disques (1985, 1987), the Gramophone Award (1987), a Grammy nomination and a Grammy Award through the EcoClassics recording label, and an internationally acclaimed PBS broadcast, "In Performance at The White House" for President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan.
As a member of the Muir Quartet, Mr. Reynolds has performed nearly 2,000 concerts throughout North America, Europe and the Far East, and he has performed with such diverse artists as Leon Fleisher, Gil Shaham, Phyllis Curtin and Benny Goodman. He received an honorary doctorate from Rhode Island College in 1995. Mr. Reynolds has appeared in recital throughout the U.S, and his recording of the complete Bach Suites for Solo Cello has received much critical acclaim.
He has produced produced 11 classical recordings for the benefit of nature organizations and music programs for young people, through the EcoClassics label, and has recorded as well on EMI, ADDA/Qualiton, Music Masters and CRI. He is also co-founder and Artistic Director of Classics for Kids Foundation, which offers quality student instruments and mentoring services to communities and schools around America, and the Artistic Director of the Muir Quartet’s Emerging Quartets and Composers program in Park City, Utah. He also is Artistic Director of Rockport Fall Foliage, a yearly gathering of amateur musicians in Rockport, Maine. In his spare time he is an avid flyfisherman and outdoorsman. He plays a cello by Carlo Antonio Testori from 1741, "ex Toscanini".
