David Cohen

Principal Cello

Member since 2021, Professor at Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Mons, Belgium, and Trinity Laban, London

‘I could not imagine my life without playing the cello now. I am the first musician in my family to be a soloist and I thank my grandmother every time I am on stage. It’s the only place where I have always felt completely at home.’

David Cohen made his solo debut with the Belgian National Orchestra at the age of nine. He studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and then at the Guildhall School where he studied under Oleg Kogan. He has won more than 25 prizes in International Cello Competitions including the Gold Medal of the GSMD in London, the Geneva International Cello Competition, JS Bach International Competition and many others.

His international career as a soloist soon flourished with invitations from the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, l’OrchestreSymphonique de la VRT, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de Lille, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, l’Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Grenoble, the Polish Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, as well as the BBC Concert Orchestra.

David has worked as a soloist with some of the most distinguished conductors in the industry such as Lord Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Walter Weller, Sir Charles Mackerras, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph von Dohnányi, Pedro Halffter, and Martyn Brabbins among others.

David is the Artistic Director of the Melchoir Ensemble and the founder and Artistic Director of the chamber music festival Les Sons Intensifs in Lessines, in Belgium. He is also a professor at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Mons in Belgium, a position he has held since 2000, and at Trinity Laban in London.

David plays on the ‘Ex-Pergamenschikow’ cello, a magnificent Dominicus Montagnana circa 1735, thanks to the kindness and generosity of Mrs Pat Morton and the help of the Razumovsky Trust.