Blaise Déjardin, Cello

Biography

Born in Strasbourg, France, in 1984, Blaise Déjardin made his debut with orchestra at age 14, performing Haydn’s C Major Concerto at the Corum of Montpellier, France. First prize winner at the Maurice Gendron International Cello Competition (2005) in France, he became the youngest prizewinner at the 6th Adam International Cello Competition (2006) in New Zealand.

As a soloist, he performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, the French Camerata, and many others. His performances were broadcast on various radio stations, such as France-Musique, YLE, Radio New Zealand, VPR, WGBH.

 An active performer of new music, Blaise Déjardin gave the US premiere of "Les formes du vent" for cello solo by French composer Edith Canat de Chizy in 2008. A passionate chamber musician, he has performed in many festivals in France, and was invited for two summers at the Steans Institute of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. He shared the stage with musicians such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Miriam Fried, Malcolm Lowe, Donald Weilerstein and Paul Katz.

 From 2001 to 2004, Blaise Déjardin was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester, touring all over Europe, Russia, and South America. In 2010, he founded the Boston Cello Quartet, made up of four cellists from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for whom he writes numerous arrangements.

 He holds a First Prize of Cello with highest honors from the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique of Paris, as well as a Master of Music Diploma and a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory in Boston. His main teachers were Philippe Muller, Laurence Lesser and Bernard Greenhouse.

 Blaise Déjardin is the recipient of awards and scholarships funded by the Gregor Piatigorsky Fund, the Adami, the Fulbright Foundation, the Singer-Polignac Foundation, and the CulturesFrance Foundation.

Since 2008, he is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.