The Degas Quartet > Philip von Maltzahn

      Philip von Maltzahn recently completed his Masters of Music in 2002 at the Eastman Schoool of Music, under the tutelage of Steven Doane. He began to play the cello at age nine in Arlington, Texas, and after studies with cellist Elizabeth Morrow he was awarded a full scholarship to study at Indiana University, where his teachers were Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Janos Starker.

      Philip is very active as a chamber musician and solo performer. Recent concert highlights include a concert with the Eastman Chamber Music Society at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, a 2001 appearance at the Spoleto USA Chamber Music Series in Charleston, SC, and chamber performances at the Aspen Music Festival. He has performed solo recitals at the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, and the University of Texas at Arlington, and in 2000 played at the Third World Cello Congress in Baltimore, Maryland, as a winner of the International Masterclass Competition. He joined the Degas Quartet in 2001.

      A gifted musician with diverse interests, Philip is fluent in many genres of music and styles of performance. A student of historical performance, he studied 17th and 19th century performance practice with lutenist Paul O'Dette and violinist Stanley Ritchie. His repertoire includes a broad range of contemporary music. He has worked closely with composers George Crumb and Allan Schindleron on performance and interpretation of their music. In a previous lifetime, Philip played a mean blues guitar and harmonica in a band in his hometown of Arlington, Texas.

      At Indiana University, Philip worked as an assistant to the IU Young Cellists program and studied Suzuki training methods. He continued teaching at the Eastman School of Music where he taught secondary and elective cello.

      Philip performs on a cello made by William Whedbee made in Chicago in 2001.

Emily Popgan, violin  | Timothy Peters, violin  |  Simon Ertz, viola