1892

Darius Milhaud

(4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974)

French composer, conductor, and teacher

Darius Milhaud (1923). Bibliothèque nationale de France. Public domain.

Here is his Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 136, recorded by the great Mstislav Rostropovich with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano:

1945

Christopher van Kampen

(4 September 1945 – 30 September 1997)

British cellist

Photo by Daryl Runswick

Here is a recording of him playing an unidentified folk song setting by Benjamin Britten with pianist Graham Johnson:

1982

Hildur Guðnadóttir

Happy birthday!

Icelandic cellist and composer

Hildur Guðnadóttir. Photo by tz1_1zt – This file has been extracted from another file: Hildur Guðnadóttir.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0.

She has won numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award for Best Original Score, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and a BAFTA Award for Best Original Music. Here she performs “Erupting Light”:

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1986

Neyla Pekarek

Happy birthday!

American cellist, vocalist, and pianist

Neyla Pekarek. Photo by Sachyn Mital – Wikimedia Commons (File: The Lumineers.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0.

Here she performs “Better Than Annie”:

Your Turn

Know of other cellists, cello makers, composers of music played by cellists, or those with a strong tie to the cello world born on this day? This is a work in progress. We’d love to hear from you if you have suggestions, additions, or corrections. Thank you!

We include those with recordings and/or images available online.