Alisa Weilerstein

Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment, and rare interpretive depth, she was recognized with a MacArthur “genius grant” in 2011.

While maintaining a deep engagement with the repertoire’s standards, Weilerstein is also dedicated to expanding the cello literature. Her multi-season project, FRAGMENTS, comprises six programs that weave together J.S. Bach’s cello suites with 27 newly commissioned works. In 2025–26, she continues the series in New York City and San Diego, and also presents its European, Czech, German, and UK premieres — the latter at London’s Southbank Centre, where she undertakes a fall and winter artistic residency.

Weilerstein has also premiered important new concertos written for her by leading contemporary composers, including Matthias Pintscher, Joan Tower, and Gabriela Ortiz. In the 2025–26 season, she plays the UK premiere of Ortiz’s Dzonot with Marin Alsop and the Philharmonia Orchestra, before reprising the same work with the San Diego Symphony. Other highlights include performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and Staatskapelle Berlin, among others.

Weilerstein’s bestselling Pentatone recording of Bach’s cello suites was nominated for a 2021 Gramophone Award, while her insights into his G-major Prelude from the First Suite, as captured in Vox’s YouTube series, have been viewed more than 2.3 million times. As featured in a Gramophone cover story, in 2022, she released Beethoven’s complete cello sonatas with frequent collaborator Inon Barnatan. Her celebrated discography also includes recordings of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic, which topped the US classical chart, and the Elgar and Carter cello concertos with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin, named “Recording of the Year” in 2013 by BBC Music Magazine.

Born in 1982, Weilerstein discovered her love for the cello at age 2-and-a-half and made her professional concert debut at 13 with The Cleveland Orchestra. She is married to conductor Rafael Payare, with whom she has two young children.