Dr. Ruben Palma | Violoncello
photo: keith saunders
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about
Australian-Salvadoran cellist Dr. Ruben Palma is an award-winning musician living and working on unceded gadigal land, and has since 2024 been a member of the Opera Australia Orchestra (OAO).
Ruben began to play the cello aged six, and spent nine years studying with Lindy Reksten at the Canberra School of Music. After moving to Sydney to attend the Conservatorium High School, he then studied with Julian Smiles, Howard Penny, and Nicolas Altstaedt, and also undertook masterclasses and lessons with Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Johannes Moser, Alban Gergardt, Uzi Wiesel, Maria Kliegel, Gabriel Schwabe, Pieter Wispelwey, Daniel Yeadon, and Gary Hoffman.
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, the HfMT Köln, and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (where he graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a dissertation on ornamentation in J.S. Bach's Six Cello Suites, as well as a recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites), Ruben regularly performs both Australia-wide and abroad, including concerts at the Adelaide International Cello Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Canberra International Music Festival, and the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit, where he performed for president Barack Obama as a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra String Quartet. As soloist, Ruben has performed concerti by Schumann, Elgar, and Haydn, as well as Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations.
Ruben's performances have been broadcast by Australian Digital Concert Hall, ABC Classic FM, 702 ABC Sydney, 3MBS, and FM 102.5 Sydney Fine Music. He plays on a 1784 cello by Jacques-Pierre Michelot.
testimonials
"Ruben plays with great clarity and precision. He is a cellist whose playing comes from the soul and speaks to the soul, especially in the works of Bach, and his love for the cello is truly evident in the sincereity of his performances."
– Catherine Hewgill, principal cellist Sydney Symphony Orchestra
"I have known Ruben for many years, and from our first encounter have enjoyed his exquisite playing and inquisitive mind. His dedication to his music is exemplary and always an inspiration."
– Johannes Moser, soloist
"... Palma negotiated the shifts and turns of this music persuasively, moving between cabaret music and contemporary techniques with consummate ease. For me, this will remain one of the stand-out solo performances of the 2022 Canberra International Music Festival."
– Limelight magazine, 5/5/22
photo: Isa Sanchez
awards
Research Training Program Scholarship (formerly Australian Postgraduate Awards), Sydney University
Sydney Symphony Orchestra Felllow
Australian Chamber Orchesta Emerging Artist
Finalist – Australian Cello Awards
ROSL ARTS Scholarship
MOST® Travel Grant
Willoughby Symphony Or usechestra Prize
Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Scholarship
Kölner Tanz und Theater Preis (SK Stiftung Kultur)
Australia Council Skills and Arts Development Grant
Gwen Nisbet Music Scholarship
Gwen Prockter Violoncello Prize, Melbourne University
Ian Potter Foundation Cultural Trust Grant
NSW finalist: Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards
ANU / CSO National Orchestral Scholarship
Ruth Pfanner Undergraduate Scholarship
1st prize: New York American String Teachers Association Solo Competition
photo: Christian Faustus
education
• Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) – Sydney Conservatorium of Music
• Master of Music Violoncello Solo (MMus) – Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (class: Nicolas Altstaedt)
• Bachelor of Music Performance (Honours) (BMus(Hons)) – Victorian College of the Arts
• Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum
• Australian National Academy of Music
• Meadowmount School of Music
• Sydney Conservatorium High School
photo: keith saunders
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