Cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins wants to do more than make art; she wants to turn her life into a piece of art. Annie’s love of interdisciplinary work has led her to collaborate with painters, dancers, potters, cheesemongers, fashion designers, boxers, composers, poets, woodworkers, essayists, knitters, and farmers. She believes that it is the sacred duty of an artist to protect beauty that already exists in the world, and as such, is a passionate participant in local, sustainable agriculture and boycotter of fast fashion. Music is one of the ways she digs her toes into the earth around her.
Praised for anything from “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) to “delightfully pluck[ing] and slapp[ing] her cello like a rockabilly upright bassist” (The Democrat and Chronicle), Annie is known for “eras[ing] all kinds of boundaries” (USC Thornton School of Music) with her music.
Annie is the recent winner of the 2023 Pierre Fournier Award. In the coming seasons she will present a recital in London’s Wigmore Hall, record her debut album on the Champs Hill label, and perform as soloist with the London Philharmonia Orchestra among other performance engagements.
After winning the 2022 Father Merlet Award from the Pro Musicis Foundation, Annie commissioned composers Stratis Minakakis and Daniel Temkin to write two works for cello and piano responding to the climate crisis. Working with living composers such as Timo Andres, Brett Dean, Konstantia Gourzi, Jessie Montgomery, Jeffrey Mumford, and Jörg Widmann has been some of the most rewarding work of her career. In fall of 2023, Annie looks forward to beginning her roles as Artist-in-Residence at the EstOvest Festival Contemporary Cello Week in Turin, Italy and Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center in Austin, Texas. She is also principal cellist of Joshua Weilerstein’s Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, and was chosen as a 2021 Young-Artist-in-Residence at NPR’s Performance Today. Annie is 1st prize winner of the 2022 Chamber Orchestra of the Springs Emerging Soloist Competition, 2019 New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and 2016 Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition.
Annie is additionally a prize winner at numerous international chamber music competitions, including 1st prize with Trio Brontë at the 2023 Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition, and 3rd prize at the 2016 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition with the Callisto Trio, the youngest group ever to compete in the senior division finals. She recently joined the Paris-based string quartet Quatuor Mona for the ‘23-24 season. Annie has performed in venues such as The Library of Congress, Het Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Jordan Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Carnegie Hall, and regularly particiaptes in festivals such as Krzyzowa Music, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn, Marlboro Music, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, and Perlman Music Program, where she has collaborated with artists such as Anthony Marwood, Miriam Fried, Viviane Hagner, Lucy Shelton, the Mark Morris Dance Company, and members of the Verona and Kuss Quartets.
Annie writes program notes for the Yellow Barn Festival every summer. She holds minors in English and German Studies from the University of Southern California, where she was a Trustee Scholar and recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Graduate Award. In 2020 Annie guest lectured at McGill University on the topic of writing engaging program notes.
Annie is currently working towards an Artist Diploma at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin under the tutelage of Frans Helmerson. She previously studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin with Troels Svane (MM ‘23, Ottilie-Selbach-Redslob Stiftung recipient), at the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser (MM ‘20 and GD ‘21, Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship recipient), and USC’s Thornton School of Music with Ralph Kirshbaum (BM ‘18, Outstanding Graduate Award and Trustee Scholar recipient). Other influential teachers include Kathleen Murphy Kemp, Guy Fishman, David Geringas, Geoff Dyer, and Thomas Gustafson.
Annie spends her free time foraging for indigenous edible plants, relearning the history of the United States from the perspective of BIPOC, feminist, and LGBTQ+ communities, pretending to be a dog with her dogs Georgie and Farley, and adoring her nephews Charlie (human), Robin (human), Arthur (dog), and Dusty (cat). Annie’s historical role models are the Ice Princess of the Ukok Peninsula, Hypsicratea, Veronica Franco, George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Ennio Bolognini.
See Annie perform during our Concert Season!