Dennis Parker
Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor of Cello
Biography
Dennis Parker, Haymon Professor of Cello, has been on the faculty at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. for the past 32 years. Parker tours internationally as soloist, recitalist and educator. Recent seasons鈥� tours have taken him to, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Costa Rica, Romania, France, Italy, Brazil and Ecuador, where he gave the premiere performance of Ecuadorian composer, Luis Humberto Salgado鈥檚 鈥淐ello Concerto鈥� (1975) in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
He received his training at Indiana University with Janos Starker and Yale University with cellist, Also Parisot. His early training was with Channing Robbins. He held the position of Principal Cello in Porto Alegre, Brazil (1982-84) and was a member of the Detroit Symphony (1986-88).
He is the author of 鈥淭he Popper Manifesto鈥�(2002), the only complete video recording and users-guide Instructional Manual to David Popper鈥檚 鈥淗igh School of Cello Playing.鈥� With more than 3,000 copies distributed worldwide, this is a widely used text on all continents. He has also released many CD recordings, as well as the world premier of the Brazilian composer, Walter Burle Marx鈥檚 鈥淐ello Concerto,鈥�. His other recordings range from crossover, and jazz influenced music 鈥淐ello Matters鈥� (music of David Baker, Liduino Pitombeira, Daniel Schnyder, Astor Piazzolla, to recordings of his own transcriptions for cello including Debussy鈥檚 鈥淪onata for Violin鈥� Poulenc鈥檚 鈥淪onata for Flute鈥� Enesco鈥檚 鈥淰iolin Sonata no.3.鈥� He has premiered and recorded and published editions for his transcriptions to Mozart鈥檚 鈥淰iolin Concerto No.5鈥� and 鈥淪infonia Concertante.鈥� He has recorded for Centaur Records chamber music of composers Erwin Schullhoff, Gideon Klein, Hans Krasa, and Viktor Ullmann, all killed in the Holocaust. Another recording features the 鈥淐ello Sonata 鈥渁nd 鈥淧iano Trio鈥� of Russian composer, Ivan Sokolov.
Parker is also a sculptor and wood-worker, recycling humorous reconstructions from old, out-of-use musical instruments as well as other found objects. You can follow his work on Instagram @Dennisparkercelloetc and on YouTube.
