Biography

Short  | Complete | Version française

Short biography

Download PDF

Cellist Paul Marleyn tours regularly in North America, Europe and Asia. As a frequent participant in summer festivals including the Prussia Cove, Busan, Festival of the Sound, Domaine Forget, Casalmaggiore, Leicester and Ottawa international festivals, he collaborates with artists such as Boris Berman, Miriam Fried, James Somerville, Paul Neubauer, Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Dann, Joshua Bell, and with members of the Tokyo, Vermeer, New Zealand, St. Lawrence and Hagen quartets. He has appeared as soloist with the London Philharmonia, Belgrade Philharmonic, European Chamber, Winnipeg Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony and Manitoba Chamber orchestras. The Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Agassiz Chamber Music Festival since 2000, and the International Cello Festival of Canada since 2011, Paul was the cellist in Trio Hochelaga from 2006-2012. He has made several compact disc recordings on the United Records, CALA, ATMA, Signum Classics, CBC and RCA Victor labels. From 1993-7, Paul was principal cellist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and has served at professor of cello at the University of Manitoba, and more recently at the University of Ottawa, where he now mentors an award-winning studio of young cellists.

Complete biography

Download PDF

A cellist with a broad and eclectic repertoire that ranges from the Baroque period to the twenty-first century, Paul Marleyn tours regularly across Canada and frequently performs in the United States, Europe and Asia.

A regular participant in international summer music festivals, including those of Busan (Korea), Leicester (UK), Cape and Islands (USA), Casalmaggiore (Italy), Lviv Contrasts (Ukraine), International Musicians Seminar (UK), Chamber Music East (USA), Shen Yang and Beijing (China), Festival of the Sound, Domaine Forget and Ottawa Chamberfest (Canada), he has collaborated with artists such as Boris Berman, Miriam Fried, James Somerville, Paul Neubauer, James Campbell, Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Dann, Stéphane Lemelin, Scott St. John, Joshua Bell, and with the St. Lawrence, New Zealand, Penderecki and Lafayette string quartets. He has appeared as soloist with the Belgrade Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, European Chamber, Winnipeg Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony and Manitoba Chamber orchestras. Engagements have included London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Chicago’s Cultural Centre and Geneva’s Victoria Saal. Since 2000, Paul has been President and Artistic Director of Canada’s Agassiz Summer Chamber Music Festival in Winnipeg, and in 2011, as Artistic Director, he inaugurated the International Cello Festival of Canada, a triannual festival also taking place in Winnipeg. From 2005-2012, he was a member of the Trio Hochelaga, one of Canada’s leading chamber ensembles, with which he recorded a series of five discs of French music on the ATMA Classique label.

Paul Marleyn has made several compact disc recordings as soloist and chamber musician. His first CD, released by United Records, contains cello sonatas by Shostakovitch, Prokofief and Schnittke, and was described as “emotionally intense, physically big-boned” (Gramophone Magazine), and ”over-flowing with health, the joy of playing, and flamboyant brilliance” (Répértoire, France.) His recording of the complete works of Ernest Bloch for Signum Classics has also received favorable reviews; “an excellent recording, this release deserves enthusiastic recommendation” (BBC Music Magazine) and “a fine cellist with astute command of style and formidable technique” (Strad magazine.) Other releases include Swirl for solo cello by Jim Hiscott on the CBC Records label, as well as chamber music recordings for RCA Victor and CBC Records. Mr. Marleyn’s concerts and recordings are frequently heard on CBC radio, BBC radio, NPR affiliate stations in the United States and around the world.

Paul is a devoted teacher and has given masterclasses at the Royal Northern College of Music (UK), the Royal Scottish Academy (UK) and the Royal Academy of Music (UK), at the University of Belgrade in Europe, at Lawrence, Michigan, Laurier, McGill, Alberta and Western universities and the Glenn Gould School in North America, and at the Busan (Korea), Xian, Beijing Central, Hangzhou, Jinan and Shen Yang (China) conservatories in Asia. He also offers tuition and masterclasses each summer at the Domaine Forget International Festival in Quebec. From 1997 to 2004, Paul served as Professor of Cello and Head of Strings at the University of Manitoba in Canada, and since 2004 has held the same positions at the University of Ottawa, where he now mentors an award-winning studio of young cellists.

Mr. Marleyn has a special interest in new music, having been a frequent guest of the prestigious German group Ensemble Modern, and at the Winnipeg Centara, Almeida, Lviv Contrasts and Donaueshinger new music festivals. Paul has commissioned new works by Bramwell Tovey, Kevin Volans, Jocelyn Morlock, Michael Matthews, David Raphael Scott, Glenn Buhr, Jim Hiscott and Rodion Schedrin.

As an orchestral principal player, he held the position of Principal Cellist of the European Community Youth Orchestra from 1986-8. Also was Principal Cellist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993-7, and has also appeared as Guest Principal Cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Paul Marleyn was raised in London, England, where he studied privately with Robert Norris. Paul is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with David Strange, and of the New England Conservatory in Boston USA, where he worked with Colin Carr and Laurence Lesser to gain a Masters Degree and Artist Diploma. He completed his studies at Yale University with Aldo Parisot.  In 1994, Paul was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, and in that same year was honoured to perform as soloist for the Queen.

A laureate of the Royal Overseas League International Competition in London, he is the recipient of several national and international awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship and grants from the Canada Council, the Manitoba Arts Council and the Royal Society of Arts. Paul plays on a 1770 Pietro Landolfi cello made in Milan, Italy, known as “Il Cappuccino”.

Biographie, version française

Téléchargez le PDF

Violoncelliste de réputation internationale, Paul Marleyn s’est fait entendre comme soliste et  chambriste à travers l’Europe, l’Asie, et l’Amérique du Nord. Il participe à de nombreux festivals et collabore avec d’éminents artistes dont James Somerville, Marc-André Hamelin et les membres des quatuors à cordes Tokyo, Vermeer, St. Lawrence et Hagen. Comme soliste, il s’est produit avec des orchestres en Europe et en Amérique du Nord et en récital au Wigmore Hall  (Londres), au Jordan Hall (Boston), au centre culturel de Chicago et à la Victoria Saal (Genève). Président et directeur artistique du Festival de musique de chambre Agassiz (Winnipeg) depuis 2000, et du Festival international de violoncelle Canada depuis 2011, il était membre du Trio Hochelaga de Montréal de 2006 à 2012. Intéressé tout particulièrement par la musique nouvelle, il joue souvent avec l’Ensemble Modern de Francfort, lors de festivals de musique nouvelle en Amérique du Nord et en Europe ; il a commandé des œuvres de compositeurs de premier plan. Ses nombreux enregistrements ont été fort bien reçus. Paul Marleyn est professeur de violoncelle à l’Université d’Ottawa. Avant sa nomination à l’Université d’Ottawa, M. Marleyn occupait le poste de professeur de violoncelle à l’Université du Manitoba, et le poste de violoncelliste solo du Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Bien connu dans l’ensemble du Canada et du Royaume-Uni pour ses cours de maître et ateliers, M. Marleyn possède une vaste expérience de l’enseignement du violoncelle. Il a acquis sa formation à la Royal Academy of Music de Londres, avec Yo Yo Ma et Laurence Lesser au New England Conservatory de Boston, et avec Aldo Parisot à l’Université Yale. Il a enregistré sur les étiquettes Signum, ATMA Classique, RCA Victor, United et Disques Radio-Canada.