Principal Cello
Member since 2021; Professor at Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Mons, Belgium, and Trinity Laban, London; Chair endowed by the LSO Friends
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 of Music & Drama 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, J S Bach International Competition and many others. During the 2002/03 season, he was nominated as the ECHO Rising Star by the Royal Philharmonic Society of Belgium and the Concertgebouw.
In his musical journey, 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 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.
