Cellist Astrid Schween has gained a rich following and enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber artist and teacher. Since joining the Juilliard String Quartet in 2016, she has appeared at many of the world’s great concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Vienna Musikverein, Berlin Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, The 92nd Street Y, Ravinia, Tanglewood, The Kennedy Center, and on tour throughout China, Japan, Singapore, Europe, Canada and the US.
Astrid Schween made her concerto debut at the age of 16, with the New York Philharmonic and conductor, Zubin Mehta. Mehta later arranged a special invitation for her to study privately in London with the legendary cellist, Jacqueline DuPré. This mentorship with DuPré continued for seven inspiring years. With degrees from the Juilliard School, Schween received her primary training under the guidance of Leonard Rose, Harvey Shapiro, Channing Robbins, Ardyth Alton and Dr. H.T. Ma, with additional studies under Bernard Greenhouse and Eugene Moye. She performed in master classes for Philippe Muller and William Pleeth, and also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival.
Astrid Schween maintains a lively solo performance schedule in addition to her extensive touring with the Juilliard String Quartet , and has been featured in Strings and Strad magazines, on NPR and was a guest speaker on the topic, “Women in Music” at the Library of Congress. Recent JSQ highlights include ongoing tours with Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
A longtime member of the Lark Quartet, with whom she earned the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and Gold Medal at Russia’s Shostakovich Competition, her collaborations have included her role as cellist of the Boston Trio, frequent guest artist at the Boston Chamber Music Society , the Seattle Chamber Music Festival Tanglewood Music Center and Heifetz Institute.
This summer, Schween performed a sold-out recital at Tanglewood Music Center with pianist, Shai Wosner. She also had the pleasure of recording the Chopin Sonata for the Tone Base platform with pianist Noreen Polera, and performed with violinists James Ehnes, Tessa Lark and Andrew Wan, as well as pianists Adam Neiman, Joyce Yang and Orion Weiss. In the fall, Astrid is looking forward to her Boston recital with pianist Polera and concert tours with the Juilliard String Quartet in Japan and Europe.
A dedicated and passionate teacher and mentor, Astrid Schween is a member of the Cello Faculty at Juilliard and was for many years on faculty at the Perlman Music Program and Interlochen Center for the Arts . She is an advocate for children’s education in the arts and gives her time and support to The Sphinx Organization, Project Step, Project Music Heals Us, CelloBello, Musical Mentors Collaborative https://www.musical-mentors.org/ and Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program.
Astrid Schween’s numerous recordings appear on the Sony, Arabesque, Decca/Argo, CRI, New World, JRI, Centaur, NAR, and Point labels.
For more information and booking details, please contact Stephanie De Palma at sdpdepalma@gmail.com.