Clive Greensmith, cello. Fredericksburg Music Festival & School

June 18, 2026 • 7:30 PM
St Joseph’s Halle • Fredericksburg, Texas

The Fredericksburg Music Festival & School welcomes internationally celebrated cellist Clive Greensmith and pianist Minhye Choi for an evening of refinement, virtuosity, and emotional depth featuring masterworks of Debussy, Henze, Hough, and Brahms.

Set within the historic atmosphere of St Joseph’s Halle in the heart of Fredericksburg, the program moves from the luminous colors and elegance of Debussy’s late sonata to the dramatic intensity of Hans Werner Henze’s Capriccio for solo cello. Stephen Hough’s deeply personal Sonata “Les Adieux” offers a rare and compelling modern voice before the evening culminates in Brahms’ expansive and radiant Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 — one of the great masterpieces of the cello repertoire.

• Claude Debussy — Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor
• Hans Werner Henze — Capriccio for Solo Cello
• Stephen Hough — Sonata “Les Adieux” for Cello and Piano (Left Hand)
• Johannes Brahms — Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99

For fifteen years, Clive Greensmith served as cellist of the legendary Tokyo String Quartet, appearing in over one hundred performances annually at many of the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein, and Suntory Hall. Prior to his quartet career, he served as principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

A distinguished chamber musician and educator, Greensmith has collaborated with many of the most important artists of our time, including András Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, and Emanuel Ax. He currently serves on the faculty of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, where his students continue to win major awards and orchestral appointments internationally.

Guests are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy an evening of music in one of Fredericksburg’s most intimate and acoustically vibrant venues.

• Claude Debussy — Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor
• Hans Werner Henze — Capriccio for Solo Cello
• Stephen Hough — Sonata “Les Adieux” for Cello and Piano (Left Hand)
• Johannes Brahms — Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99

This concert forms part of the 2026 Fredericksburg Music Festival & School, an international summer festival bringing together exceptional artists, students, and audiences from around the world in the Texas Hill Country.

St. Joseph’s Halle

June 7–21, 2026

Texas Cellos
and the Fredericksburg Music Festival & School

Mr. Greensmith was the principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the cellist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet for 15 years, from 1999 until 2013. As a member of the quartet, he gave more than 100 performances each year in the most prestigious international venues, including Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, South Bank Centre in London, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein in Vienna, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Mr. Greensmith has collaborated with international artists, such as András Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alicia de Larrocha, and Emanuel Ax.

Mr. Greensmith has given guest performances at prominent festivals worldwide. In North America, he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music at Menlo, Marlboro Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Ravinia Festival. Internationally, he has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

As a soloist, Mr. Greensmith has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the RAI Orchestra of Rome, among others.

During a career spanning over 25 years, Mr. Greensmith has built up a catalog of landmark recordings, most notably the Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets for Harmonia Mundi with the Tokyo String Quartet, Mozart’s “Prussian” Quartets with the Tokyo String Quartet, Brahmsʼs cello sonatas with Boris Berman for Biddulph Recordings, and clarinet trios by Beethoven and Brahms with Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse for Harmonia Mundi. His recording of Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major with the Tokyo String Quartet was named an “outstanding” recording by the International Record Review.

In 1986, Mr. Greensmith made his concerto debut with the London Symphony Orchestra and went on to be the first-prize winner in the Sergio Lorenzi Chamber Music Competition in Trieste, Italy, and first-prize winner in the Caltanisetta Duo competition. Most notably, as a major prizewinner in the first-ever Premio Stradivari held in Cremona, Italy, in 1991, Mr. Greensmith was launched into a series of major recital and concerto appearances throughout Europe.

Deeply committed to the mentoring and development of young musicians, Mr. Greensmith has enjoyed a long and distinguished teaching career. In addition to a 15-year residency with the Tokyo String Quartet at Yale University, Mr. Greensmith has served as a member of the faculty at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal Northern College of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Manhattan School of Music. He joined the faculty of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in 2013 as Professor of Cello and served as Co-Director of String Chamber Music Studies from 2013–2018. Students of Mr. Greensmith have gone on to secure major positions in orchestras throughout the world and have won a number of prestigious awards.

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