Bio

Oliver Simpson is a British-Cypriot cellist based in the UK.

Praised for his beautiful tone, exceptional virtuosity, and joy in performing, Oliver is deeply passionate about communicating through the cello his love and enjoyment of the music in every performance.

Oliver made his concerto debut aged 14, playing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, and has won many prestigious national and international competitions. His exceptional ability led to advanced study at Kromberg Academy, Germany where he participated in the prestigious public Cello Masterclasses with Philippe Muller in 2024. As an LPO Junior Artist 2021/22, he performed solo with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

Oliver has established himself as a versatile artist across multiple disciplines.

As an experienced concerto soloist, his recent performances include major works with leading orchestras – Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Elgar’s Cello Concerto with both Newbury and Reading Symphony Orchestras, Dvořák Rondo with St. John's Chamber Orchestra, Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concerto with the Abingdon Symphony Orchestra, Shostakovich’s powerful First Cello Concerto with Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C with the Berkshire Camerata at the Windsor Festival and a return to the Newbury Symphony Orchestra with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

Oliver enjoys undertaking an extensive programme of recital performances, with a recent recital tour of the East coast of the United States of America, including Washington DC and New York City, and has given solo recitals at the Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, Jaqueline du Pré Concert Hall, Oxford, Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford, Milton Court, Barbican, Holywell Music Room, Oxford, Gregynog Hall, Wales, Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, and the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.

He has a deep love of chamber music and feels joy in collaborating with likeminded musicians. Recent highlights include performances with both the Villiers Quartet and the Castalian String Quartet of Schubert’s String Quintet in the Holywell Music Room, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective in the Sheldonian, Jess Gillam in Wilton’s Music Hall, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Sheldonian, the Mendelssohn Octet at Buckingham Palace, a concert for the President and First Lady of Cyprus in the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on Cyprus Independence Day, and a chamber concert for The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and guests, hosted by The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.

Oliver has participated in many prestigious masterclasses with Ralph Kirshbaum, Alexander Chaushian, Natalie Clein, Steven Doane, Hannah Roberts, Matthew Huber, David Waterman, Philippe Muller, Pablo Tejedor-Gutiérrez, Florian Berner, Richard May, Callum Smart, Guy Johnston, Melissa Phelps, Jo Cole, Jess Gillam, Natalie Clein, Rebecca Gilliver and Philip Higham and receives guidance and mentoring from Nicholas Canellakis and Zlatomir Fung.

Oliver is proud to have collaborated in concert with world-renowned soloists and conductors, including Truls Mørk, Sir Stephen Hough, Jakub Hrůša, Marios Papadopoulos, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sir Bryn Terfel, Maxim Vengerov, an improvised duo with Nicola Benedetti in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the cello solo “Out of the Deep” from Rutter’s Requiem under Rutter’s baton.

As an orchestral freelancer, Oliver has performed as guest principal and soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, has toured with Maxim Vengerov to Cyprus, and has upcoming international tours to Carnegie Hall, New York, alongside Sir Bryn Terfel, and a European tour to Berlin, Istanbul, Munich and Athens, performing alongside Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov.

Oliver began his musical journey as a chorister with Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal St. James’s Palace, undertaking five years of intense musical training in liturgical and ceremonial music for state and royal occasions, which led to his most influential early musical experience of playing the role of Second Boy in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) in the Royal Opera House 2017/18 season.

Oliver is also a composer, with recent recordings and performances by the BBC Singers at Maida Vale Studios, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at LSO St Luke’s, Brickworks, new music groups and the CHROMA Ensemble.

Oliver recently graduated with a (double) first in Music from the University of Oxford. He performs on a fine Cremonese 1682 Andrea Guarneri cello kindly on loan from J & A Beare’s, as a Beare’s International Violin Society artist.