performance | teaching | press | collaborations

I love sound. I have always loved sound. Silence is also very important to me. I also love people of all kinds and I like introducing them to different combinations of sound (and silence of course).

After dedicating years of my life to learning about how to present the highest quality of  sound combinations, some people along the way liked the way in which I combined sounds and encouraged me to pursue this further.  Some hired me for presentations of these sound combinations in buildings all over the world, famous for their ability to project various sound combinations to an audience in an extraordinary way. 

Over time, I realized that many people who really would like to hear my sound (and silence) combinations were unable, either because it was too expensive or seemed inaccessible, or they just didn't realize that they would like it. So I decided to change my way of presenting sounds (and silences...). One of my primary focuses as a combiner of sounds and silences is to step into spaces where all sorts of people are comfortable, in hopes of connecting with them through sounds and silences. To that end, I created Music in Familiar Spaces, a project that began as a yearlong tour of North America and now continues as a collective of leading artists all across the globe.

The American cellist, Steuart Pincombe, quickly made a name for himself as an exquisite interpreter of early and contemporary music who was keen to experiment. Steuart is regularly featured as a soloist and chamber musician in  in leading venues across North America and Europe including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Concertgebouw Brugge, RADIALSYSTEM V Berlin, Bozar Brussels, Tivoli Vredenburg, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and the Kauffman Center, but he is equally at home playing in your local cafe or brewery. His playing has garnered wide acclaim from the public and critics alike: The Philadelphia Inquirer calls him “a gorgeous player with perfect intonation, imaginative phrasing”, The Strad Magazine refers to him as a “superb soloist”, virtuoso cellist Giovanni Sollima calls Steuart “a complete artist, true virtuoso and poet, totally at ease with all languages and musical styles”, and an audience member once said “You’da asked me a week ago if I’sa gonna be here, I’da said ‘hell no’. Well I’m here - and I love this stuff [Bach]”.

In addition to his numerous chamber engagements, he has appeared as soloist with ensembles such as Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (DE), Holland Baroque (NL), Wallfisch Band (UK), Symphonie Atlantique (NL), Apollos Fire (US), and the Springfield (MO) Symphony (US).  His concert 'Bach&Beer' was selected by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as one of the 'Top 10 Classical Events of the Year' and a concert in which he appeared as soloist with Rene Schiffer and Apollo's Fire was numbered in London's '5 Best Classical Music Moments of 2014' according to The Telegraph (UK). If you can't hear him live, Steuart makes regular appearances on radio and has been featured on BBC, CBC, NPO, and NPR and has recently begun recording for 7 Mountain Records in Amsterdam.

With the aim of equipping other leading artists to engage with new audiences Steuart and his wife Michelle started the Music in Familiar Spaces Artist Collective which is made up of some of the leading performers of our time. Steuart and Michelle recently moved to Missouri (US) to start a small, off-grid farm.

My teaching experience ranges from working with advanced middle school students to young professionals. Over the years my students have gone on to attend leading music schools and conservatories as well as enjoy meaningful professional careers as chamber and orchestral musicians. I have served as Visiting Teacher at Oberlin Conservatory and have presented master classes and held residences at community music schools, arts high schools, universities, and conservatories across the U.S. including Peabody Institute, Lawrence Conservatory, Wheaton Conservatory, Biola University, University of California Dominguez Hills, Missouri State University, Texas Tech University, Baylor University, and Gordon College. For 10 years I was on faculty at the Credo Music festival (teaching ages 13-23) and for several years taught at Crescendo Summer Institute in Hungary. I currently directly the Onomatopoeia Institute in Springfield, Missouri. To learn more or to sign up for lessons please visit the Onomatopoeia website.

Click here to visit the Onomatopoeia website to learn more.

"superb solo cellist" — theStrad Magazine

"Steuart Pincombe is a gorgeous player - perfect intonation, imaginative phrasing" — Peter Dobrin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"his performance Tuesday lacked for nothing in terms of color or emotion... Pincombe's playing also couldn't have been more nuanced or agile. More than an excuse to drink, however, more even than a brush with history, "Bach and Beer" was an intimate encounter with music at the highest level." — Zachary Lewis, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“As he criss-crosses the country, he is shrinking the distance between classical music and everyday life, between the high ideals of the form and the human need for connection.” — Aarik Danielsen, The Columbia Daily Tribune

"The spotlight performance of cellists Rene Schiffer and Steuart Pincombe in the Vivaldi Concerto in G minor for Two Cellos, for example, was a stunning evocation of all the reasons why Vivaldi was a virtual pop star in his own time."  — The International Review of Music on Schiffer and Pincombe's performance with Apollo's Fire at UCLA Live in Royce Hall.

[translated from German:] "Steuart Pincombe almost stole the show from the singer in 'Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ'. The cellist tackled the particularly neck-breaking runs elegantly, with absolute certainty and, above all, clearly accentuated with heavenly facial expressions. As in the 'Prelude' from Suite Nr. 4 in E-flat (BWV 1010) he truly merged to be one with his instrument." — Wirtschaft Kritik, Klang und Raum on Pincombe's performances at the Klang und Raum Festival in Irsee, Germany.

"[Steuart Pincombe] brought a rich lyrical handling of line, as well as an obvious talent for exact and effective ensemble playing. — Cleveland Classical Review on Pincombe's performance of Mendelssohn D minor trio with Stephen Clapp and Karen Burgman

"Chai and Pincombe made a seamless duo, communicating well with each other, handling balance deftly and with sensitivity, and playing with clarity and precision." — The Boston Musical Intelligencer on Pincombe and Chai's performances of the complete Beethoven works for cello and piano.

"Das Cello-Konzert von J.C. Wagenseil war hingegen harmloser. Aber er beherrschte sein Handwerk. Steuart Pincombe spielte wie mit leicht federndem Gambenton, wusste die Seufzer im innigen Teil mit Geschmack zu setzen, wurde dem Verzierungsreichtum elegant Herr." — Augsburg Feuilleton Regional Zeitung on Pincombe's performance of the Wagenseil Cello Concerto in C with the Wallfisch Band