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Jacques-Pierre Malan
Internationally prize-winning, South African cellist Jacques-Pierre Malan is known as a “tour de force” player with “vibrant musicality” (Beeld). Mr. Malan is an Artist-in-Residence at the Embassy Series in Washington D.C. where he engages with the Embassies not only as a soloist and chamber musician, but as a producer, developing concert programs with humanitarian themes. Presently, he is also the cellist and founder of the Embassy String Quartet, and a member of Serafin Ensemble based in Wilmington, DE.
With a passion for chamber music, Mr. Malan has performed extensively on stages spanning multiple continents. He has had the opportunity to collaborate with such players as Ivry Gitlis, Anthony McGill, Victor Yampolsky, Jonathan Carney, Daniel Roland, Adrian Brendel, Alexander Bouslov, and Madeline Adkins. He has played on such series as the Four Seasons Music Festival, Stellenbosch International Chamber Festival, Friends of Chamber Music Concert Series, Charlestown Chapel Concerts, Venetian Arts Society, Sundays at 3, Vantage Concert Series, Colombiere Jesuits, Arts Club of Washington, Epiphany Tuesday, Union Square Chamber Series, Broadmead Series, Voices of Vets, Arts at Trinity, Sylvia Concert Series, Crosslands, Ward Virts Chamber Series, Music for Food, Pennsylvania Philharmonic Chamber Series, the Church of Beethoven, Welgemeend Concert Series and Casa Labia Series in Cape Town, SA, Worcester Music Society, Erin Hall in Roedenbosch, SA, and Curro Auditorium in Durbanville, SA. Mr. Malan has collaborated with numerous embassies through the Embassy Series, and has performed at the Walters Museum and Academy Arts Museum. In addition to his positions with the Embassy String Quartet and the Serafin Ensemble, Mr. Malan also performs with the Meriden Piano Trio, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Ensemble, and the cello duo Cellistwo.
As a concerto soloist, Mr. Malan has performed with Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Mid Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, FreeState Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Conductors Orchestra, and the South African National Youth Orchestra. With the Creative Concert Group, he premiered a new arrangement of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with string quartet accompaniment.
Mr. Malan is currently principal cello of Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Opera Society. He formerly won assistant principal position of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra, additionally he was principal of the Stellenbosch International Chamber Festival Orchestra, and has performed in the sections of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Lyric Opera, Concert Artist of Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2013, as a member of the KwazuluNatal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mr. Malan was selected to perform for the funeral of the South African leader Nelson Mandela.
He has been a prize-winner in such competitions including Yale Gordan String Competition, SAMRO Bursary Competition, Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Competition, Baltimore Music Club Competition, Wakkerstroom Music Festival Overseas Bursary Competition, Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, the Afrikaans Culture Society Muziq Competition, University of South Africa National String Competition, University of South Africa Grade 8 Scholarship Competition, South African Phillip Moore Instrumentalist Competition, and the RhonaLubner Concerto Competition. He was also featured in the documentary competition: Getting To Carnegie Hall, where he earned second prize.
Mr. Malan currently holds faculty positions at the Bryn Mawr School and the Nelly Berman School of Music, and maintains a private cello studio. He has given masterclasses at University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, the Chautauqua Institute of Music, and has adjudicated the Peabody Preparatory Division’s Recital Competition, Maryland All-States, and the Nelly Berman Celebration of the Arts Strings Competition. Previously, Mr. Malan taught at Howard County Public Schools, Liberty Heights Elementary School, Baltimore Bows, Woodbridge Music Shop, and Artist Music Education Centre.