Cecilia Tsan

Cecilia Tsan, cellist

“Cécilia Tsan gave a masterful performance of the Lalo concerto, which nobody will ever mistake for a masterpiece. But Lalo does offer the soloist numerous opportunities to display sensitive musicality and technical finesse, which Tsan did in spades. She possesses a remarkably beautiful tone, which had no trouble filling the cavernous auditorium, and gave a totally committed, passionate performance. Diemecke and the orchestra responded with exemplary, equally committed, support. At several places in the concerto, there were magical, breathtaking moments.”

Jim Ruggierello, November 08

“Cellist Cécilia Tsan stepped in front of the orchestra for the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1, and what a fabulous player she is. Her tone is velvet, one of the prettiest sounds around, her dynamic range a mile wide and her technique is flawless…Masterful, memorable, seemingly effortless performance.”

Grunion Gazette

“Cécilia Tsan, a young French woman of Chinese parentage, brought uncompromising musical character and a towering technique to Haydn’s Second Cello Concerto (in D Major), highlighting both its climaxes and its inner workings. Carver and the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra provided solid, attentive support.”

Daniel Cariaga/ Los Angeles Times

“Uncompromising musical character and a towering technique… In the breadth of her virtuosity and the charisma of her musical personality, Tsan made this work her own.” (Daniel Cariaga/Los Angeles Times, about her performance of the Haydn D Major Concerto).

Born in France, Cécilia Tsan began playing the cello with the same teacher as her childhood friend Yo-Yo Ma. After majoring in Philosophy and Chinese, she was accepted at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under André Navarra, and was awarded the 1st Prize for Cello summa cum laude and the 1st Prize for Chamber Music.

She is a prizewinner at the Barcelona International Competition, the Florence International Competition and the winner of the Debussy Prize at the Paris International Competition.

Ms Tsan toured throughout the world not only as a soloist, but also as a chamber musician. She regularly performs on the radio and for television and films. Since she moved to Los Angeles, she has been recording movie soundtracks with many composers such as John Williams, James Horner, David Newman, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, Alan Sivestri, Alexandre Desplats, James Newton-Howard to name a few. She recorded a CD (Eleven pieces for Cello and Piano) under the Cybelia label and two CDs of chamber music by Weber and Ropartz, under the Timpani label.

She currently serves as Principal Cellist with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. Her recent performances include the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, the Elgar and the Saint-Saëns Concertos, as well as various chamber music concerts. Several composers, including jazz-pianist Clare Fisher and Music Director Enrique Diemecke have written solo pieces for her. She also recorded “Jazz and Cocktails”, a piano trio written by Gernot Wolfgang, with violinist Tereza Stanislav and pianist Robert Thies, with whom she founded the Pantoum Trio. The CD was released in July 2006, to critical acclaim.