About me
Raphael Bell enjoys a varied career as a principal cellist, chamber musician, teacher, and festival director. He is currently principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France, co-founder of the Camerata Fontainebleau, and co-founder and co-Artistic Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival.
As a chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Gaveau, Berlin Philharmonie, Köln Philharmonie, Luzerner Theater, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Kyoto Concert Hall, and at festivals including Seattle Chamber Music, Ferrara Musica, Wiener Festwochen, Elba Festival, Ravinia, Verbier and Resonance Festival Belgium. He was part of the IMS Prussia Cove tour that won the Chamber Music Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society in London, and has collaborated with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, James Ehnes, Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Ivry Gitlis, and with quartets including Brooklyn Rider, Dante, Taurus, Orpheus, and Oxalys Ensemble.
Raphael gave the world premiere of Olli Mustonen’s Triptych for three cellos with Steven Isserlis and Steven Doane. Solo performances include concertos with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Nagaokakyo Ensemble, Tokyo Luft Ensemble, and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under Edo de Waart and the Brahms Double Concerto with Philippe Herreweghe. As a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for many years, he played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s celebrated Mahler Symphony Cycle with Claudio Abbado. He has been guest principal in Les Dissonances, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and worked with the Munich Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique.
After growing up in Charlottesville, Raphael studied at The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and later with Mario Brunello, Steven Isserlis, and Ferenc Rados. He now resides in Antwerp with violinist Aki Saulière, and their son, Tomo.
