Brian O’Kane

Irish cellist Brian O’Kane is in much demand as both soloist and chamber musician. Since winning first prize at the Windsor International String Competition in 2008, he has made his debuts with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra under Ashkenazy and in recital at the Wigmore Hall. Brian is a former “Rising Star” of Ireland’s National Concert Hall and recorded a critically acclaimed debut CD of French sonatas with Irish pianist Michael McHale for the Champs Hill label.

Brian enjoys playing chamber music with various ensembles and as a member of the award winning Navarra Quartet. He has collaborated with artists such as Michael Collins, Aleksandar Madzar, Pekka Kuusisto, Antoine Tamestit, Nicolas Altstaedt, Julius Drake, Sir James Galway and the Doric, Elias and Marmen quartets. Brian has also performed at concert halls and festivals throughout the world such as Sydney Opera House, the Lincoln Centre, Seoul Arts Centre, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, West Cork, Radio France-Montpellier, BBC Proms, Lockenhaus and was a founding director of the Weesp Chamber Music Festival, Holland for ten years.

Brian is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London and the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel, Brussels. Brian‘s biggest influences have come from Louise Hopkins and at IMS Prussia Cove and Chamber Studio from studies with Steven Isserlis, Ferenc Rados, Rainer Schmidt and Eberhard Feltz. Brian currently plays on a Grancino cello made in Milan in 1698, generously on loan from the Royal Society of Musicians.