Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds, Director of the School of Music at Boston University, has had a distinguished career as a performer, teacher, and administrator. As one of the leading cellists of his generation, he spent forty years as a founding musician of the Muir String Quartet. His quartet career took him to the White House, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Paris’ Salle Gaveau and the Louvre, Munich’s Herculeshalle, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Sydney’s Opera House, the Kennedy Center, and other famed venues. It included over fifty tours of Europe and the Far East as well as performances throughout North America, and collaborations with such luminaries as Benny Goodman, Phyllis Curtin, Gary Burton, Menahem Pressler, Emanuel Ax, David Soyer, Joseph Kalichstein, Michael Tree, Carol Wincenc, Richard Stoltzman, David Shifrin, and many others. Some recording awards include two Grand Prix du Disques and the Gramophone Award on EMI, and a Grammy nomination and a Grammy Award on EcoClassics, a label Reynolds founded. As a soloist, he has also recorded the six Bach Suites on EcoClassics.

Mr. Reynolds has been Professor of Cello at Boston University since 1983 where he teaches many who are destined to or have established musical careers. In addition, his interest in teaching more widely has led to his establishing several festivals for young and amateur musicians where he serves not only as Director but as a beloved coach. It has also led to his establishing the Classics for Kids Foundation (classicsforkids.org), which provides matching grants to string programs throughout the United States serving at-risk children. His devotion to bringing new converts to classical music began as a teen-aged street musician in Philadelphia, where he and other Curtis Institute of Music students entertained passersby in a scene that continues to the present day,

A native of Montana  where Reynolds established a chamber music festival and society in Bozeman, he is also an avid outdoorsman and flyfisherman. In this latter capacity, he has been featured in Fly Rod and Reel, the American Flyfisherman, and the Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

Creative Works

• Beethoven Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Cello Op. 38, Zemlinsky Trio by Stoltzman, Stillman, Reynolds: KidsClassics
• Kreisler, Berg Op. 3, Schulhoff 5 Pieces with Muir Quartet: KidsClassics
• Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Wolf live from St. Timothy’s Chapel: EcoClassics 011
• Gems for Bassoon with Lurie and K. Reynolds: EcoClassics 010
• Wincenc and Muir performingVilla-Lobos, Ravel, Hanson, Grainger, Foss, and Barber: EcoClassics 008
• Bach Suites for Solo Cello, EcoClassics  007
• Beethoven String Quartets Op. 130, 135; Muir Quartet: EcoClassics 006
• Reger Clarinet Quintet and Hindemith Clarinet Quartet with Lurie, Muir Quartet: EcoClassics 005
• Schubert Death and the Maiden and Dvorak American Quartets; Muir Quartet: EcoClassics 004
• Beethoven String Quartets Op. 132 and Grosse Fuge; Muir Quartet: EcoClassics 003
• Brahms and Mozart Clarinet Quintets with Lurie, Muir Quartet: EcoClassics 001
• Brahms String Quartets Op. 51: Muir Quartet: ADDA
• Chausson Concert and String Quartet with Collard, Dumay, Muir Quartet: EMI
• Franck Piano Quintet with Collard, Muir Quartet: EMI
• Mozart Piano Concertos (complete Quartet versions with Collard, Muir Quartet:) EMI
• Mozart-Hoffmeister Flute Quartets with Wincenc, Muir Quartet: Music Masters
• Mozart Piano Quartets with Collard, Muir Quartet: EMI
• Schumann String Quartets Op. 41 No/s 1 and 3; Muir Quartet: ADDA
• Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence with Delmoni, Chang, Thompson, Ansell, Thomas, BCMS
• Wilson 3rd Quartet; Muir Quartet: CRI

Awards

• Blue and Gold Award, Montana State University, 2013
• Senior Panel, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, 2003, 2012, 2017
• Grammy, 1995: Muir Quartet: Beethoven Quartets Op. 132, Grosse Fuge, EcoClassics
• Grammy nomination, 1994: Muir Quartet and Lurie: Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets, EcoClassics
• Honorary Doctorate, Rhode Island College, 1994
• Grand Prix du Disque,1987: Muir Quartet, Dumay, Collard: Chausson Concert and String Quartet, EMI
• Grand Prix du Disque, 1986: Muir Quartet and Collard: Franck Piano Quintet, EMI
• In Performance at The White House: internationally televised performance with the Juilliard Quartet and Itzhak Perlman for President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, 1984
• Walter M.Naumburg Award, 1981
• Evian Competition, 1st Prize, 1980