Isaac Pastor-Chermak

(He/Him)
Isaac Pastor-Chermak headshot

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Departments

Music History and Literature

Courses Taught

Beethoven's Chamber Music

Ensembles

Berkeley Symphony

Opera San Jose

California Symphony

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Berkeley, CA

What is your favorite recording?

Bruno Walter conducting the complete Beethoven Symphonies -- grew up listening to the vinyl record on my parents' turntable!

What are you passionate about outside of music?

The Giants; distance running; taking care of our 1920 house in the Berkeley Hills (something is always breaking!).

What recordings can we hear you on?

Several! My debut CD came out in 2021: “Preludes and Prologues” features cello sonatas and showpieces by Gershwin, Beethoven, Schumann, and Debussy, with my wife, pianist Alison Lee.
Just out in May 2024 is “The Year 1948”, featuring the cello sonatas of Elliott Carter (with Miles Graber) and Sergei Prokofiev (with Alison Lee). This album is out on CD and limited-edition vinyl LP.
 

Are you involved in any other ensembles?

Many! I’m Principal Cello of Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and Vallejo Symphony; Assistant Principal Cello of Fresno Philharmonic and Opera San Jose; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, and Monterey Symphony. I spend my summers at Eisenstadt Classical Music Festival in Austria, where I am Principal Cello. I also play a ton of chamber music around the Bay Area.

Who were your major teachers?

Cello: Irene Sharp, Jean-Michel Fonteneau

Music History: Richard Taruskin, Davitt Moroney, John Spitzer, Anna Maria Busse Berger 

Conducting: Marika Kuzma

What was a turning point in your career?

My first performance of the complete Bach Cello Suites. To date, I’ve performed the complete Suites ten times, working up from a two-night concert to a single concert with a dinner break to most recently playing them on one program with only a standard intermission.

Biography

Cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak enjoys a diverse and varied career in symphony and opera orchestras, chamber music, and solo and recording engagements, as well as engaging deeply with his community as a conductor, educator, and nonprofit board member. He is Principal Cellist of Vallejo Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Eisenstadt (Austria) Classical Music Festival; Assistant Principal Cellist of Opera San Jose and Fresno Philharmonic; and a member of Berkeley Symphony, California Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and Reno Philharmonic. In 2023, he was guest principal cellist of the Britt Festival Orchestra. His discography includes The Shadow Dancer with Auriga String Quartet, Backlash Bach with Red Cedar Chamber Music, and Preludes and Prologues with pianist Alison Lee. A limited edition vinyl LP, The Year 1948, is due out in May 2024, featuring cello sonatas by Prokofiev and Elliott Carter.

Pastor-Chermak is Adjunct Professor of Music History at San Francisco Conservatory of Music; at home, he teaches an award-winning private cello studio. A ‘recovering conductor’, he is Founder and Music Director Emeritus of Solano Youth Chamber Orchestra. Isaac and his wife, pianist Alison Lee, live in a 100-year-old house in the Berkeley Hills with their cat, Waffle. Isaacpastorchermak.com
 

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