Canadian-born cellist Dr Val Welbanks leads a busy international chamber music career – her performances and research have earned her a reputation for thoughtful performances of contemporary music.
She is the cellist of the Marsyas Trio, who all three hold Artist By-Fellowships this year at Churchill College. Throughout their Fellowship year, they will focus on writing a ‘digest’ of the flute-cello-piano trio, outlining it’s history, proponents and repertoire. The ensemble will also continue looking at the tradition of ‘musical translation’, and working with Dr Ewan Campbell to produce a new album. And they will, with great pleasure, continue to present termly recitals!
Val is a founding member of the Marsyas Trio, which has since 2009 been devoted to the discovery and promotion of the repertoire for the flute, cello and piano. With a wide breadth of music that ranges from historical women composers to experimental music with electronics, over a decade and a half of work has seen the ensemble collaborate with many of the UK’s leading composers.
Concert highlights with the trio include international touring and live TV and Radio, including BBC Radio 3 and Switzerland’s RTS Espace2. Their discography includes A Triple Portrait (Meridian Records 2015), In the Theatre of Air (NMC Recordings, 2018), which debuted at No. 7 on the classical charts, and Alternative Readings (Divine Arts 2024). Their discs have received international airplay and reviews in The Strad, Tempo, the Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone.
Val is also the cellist of the Ligeti Quartet, which has held residencies at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield and Goldsmiths University of London, as well as Nottingham High School. The Quartet has recorded for the Nonclassical and Mercury KX labels. Val also regularly plays with the London Contemporary Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of London to record scores for film and television, and has recorded several discs with the Longbow Ensemble and GPlus Ensemble.
In 2016, Val completed her PhD thesis Foundations of Modern Cello Technique, codifying extended techniques for cello (Goldsmiths, University of London) under the supervision of composer Roger Redgate, and previously the late cellist Alexander Ivashkin. Her thesis has presently over 18,000 downloads, and is being used by composition teachers and students, as well as cellists interested in contemporary music, around the world. She plays on a 1795 William Forster cello, generously on loan from a generous benefactor.