Maggie Parkins

An uncommonly versatile musician, cellist Maggie Parkins is equally at home performing chamber music, orchestral music and the avant-garde, and has concertized throughout the Americas and Europe. In addition to being a member of the Eclipse Quartet, Maggie is also the cellist of the Los Angeles-based Mojave Piano Trio, Brightwork Newmusic, and The Smudges. Her interest in music outside the classical tradition has led her to perform with the Jazz Passengers, the Anthony Braxton Tri Centric Ensemble, Caetano Veloso, Bjork, percussonist Alex Cline and Zeena Parkins’ The Phantom Orchard Orchestra. As an orchestral performer, Parkins has performed under the batons of Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, Simon Rattle, Oliver Knussen, and Andre Previn. An active recording artist, Parkins has recorded extensively with harpist Zeena Parkins, accordionist Guy Klusevsek, and Eclipse; she can be heard on the Tzadik, Avan, New World, Bridge and Victo labels. Ms. Parkins has performed at prestigious venues including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Centre, Festival Internacional de Música de Cadaqués (Spain), Heidelberg Castle Festival, Spoleto (USA and Italy), the Taktlos Festival (Switzerland), the Scarlatti Festival in Naples, Tanglewood Festival, the Bach Aria Festival in New York and the Wels Festival Music Unlimited. She attended the Eastman School of Music and has a doctorate from SUNY at Stony Brook. She taught cello and chamber music at the University of California, Irvine for 19 years and currently teaches cello at Pomona College.