Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak returns to Calliope for a very special performance of the complete Bach Cello Suites, celebrating the 10th anniversary of his first performance of the Six Suites at St. Alban's in July 2014. A biennial tradition in the community that is sure to sell out!
Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements, as well as engaging deeply with his community as a conductor, educator, and nonprofit board member. He is Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Eisenstadt (Austria) Classical Music Festival; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and Reno Philharmonic. In 2023, he was guest principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra. His CD catalog includes The Shadow Dancer with Auriga String Quartet, Backlash Bach with Red Cedar Chamber Music, and Preludes and Prologues with pianist Alison Lee. A limited edition vinyl LP, The Year 1948, is due out in May 2024, featuring cello sonatas by Prokofiev and Elliott Carter, recorded on Mr. Carter’s piano.
Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where his course offerings include Beethoven’s String Quartets; the Second Viennese School; Haydn; and Leonard Bernstein. At home, he teaches an award-winning private cello studio. A ‘recovering conductor’, he is Founder and Music Director Emeritus of Solano Youth Chamber Orchestra. Isaac and his wife, pianist Alison Lee, live in a 104-year-old house in the Berkeley Hills with their cat, Waffle. Isaacpastorchermak.com