Denis Brott
Founder and Artistic Director of the prize-winning Montreal Chamber Music Festival and Professor at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, cellist Denis Brott is recognized internationally as one of Canada’s finest performing musicians.
The list of his teachers includes some of the world’s finest cellists: Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School of Music (1964-1968), Janos Starker at Indiana University (1968-1971), and Gregor Piatigorsky at the University of Southern California (1971-1975). At a very young age, he won a succession of prizes, including the Washington National Symphony Merriweather Post Competition (1967), the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition (1971), the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Award (1971), and the New York Affiliate Artist Award (1978). He has appeared as soloist with every major Canadian orchestra and performed under the batons of such distinguished conductors as Zubin Mehta, Franz-Paul Decker, Mario Bernardi, Yoav Talmi and Ronald Zollman. He was acting principal cellist of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yoav Talmi during the 2001/02 season. As a conductor, he has worked with many ensembles including the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the New West Symphony and Les Jeunes Virtuoses, a training orchestra for young professional string players.
Mr. Brott rose to international attention in 1973 when he won 2nd Prize in the Munich International Cello Competition. His concert tours have taken him to four continents and numerous festivals including Marlboro, Sitka, Santa Barbara, and Banff. He is a sought after member of international juries including the Evian International String Quartet Competition (1993), the CBC Radio National Competition for Young Performers (1997), the Munich International ARD Cello Competition (1998), and the Munich International ARD String Quartet Competition (1996, 2008).
A devoted chamber musician, Denis Brott spent eight years in the Orford String Quartet during which time he recorded 25 chamber music discs. Especially acclaimed were the recordings of the complete string quartets of Beethoven, which won the Grand Prix du Disque Award (1988) and two Juno Awards (1985, 1987) for Best Chamber Ensemble Classical Recording. He has appeared as guest with numerous ensembles including the Emerson and Tokyo String Quartets.
His many solo recordings include the three Brahms Sonatas for cello and piano and Homage to Piatigorsky, perhaps his best known recording. It received this accolade from Yo-Yo Ma: “His playing throughout is exemplary, full of the rich sound and technical wizardry the master exemplified. I think Piatigorsky would be proud.” Denis Brott is also a passionate pedagogue. He has been professor of cello and chamber music at the North Carolina School of the Arts (1975-1977), the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan (1978-1980), the University of Toronto School of Music (1980-1989), and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California (1992-2001). He held the cello chair at the Musicorda Chamber Music Institute and Festival (2005). Mr. Brott is currently professor of cello and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (1990).
He also has authored a number of articles which have appeared in international publications including Strad Magazine, Orchestras Canada, University of Toronto Alumni Magazine and the Violoncello Society of New York. In 1985, Denis Brott played a pivotal role in the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank which gave him a magnificent 1706 David Tecchler cello for his lifetime use.
Denis Brott received the Great Montrealer Award for Culture (2004). The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal honors Montrealers who are a source of inspiration to their community through their initiatives in their respective spheres and through their exceptional role in enhancing the prestige of Montreal.
