Paul Watkins
Cello

Paul Watkins is one of Britain's foremost cellists. Born in 1970, he studied cello with William Pleeth, Melissa Phelps and Johannes Goritzki and first came to public attention as winner of the string section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1988. Alongside his playing, Paul is also a keen conductor and in 2002 won both first prize and audience prize at the Leeds Conductors' Competition.

As a cellist Paul performs regularly with most of the major British orchestras including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras. He has made five concerto appearances at the Proms performing works by Elgar, Sullivan, Lutoslawski, Tobias Picker and most recently William Schuman's A Song of Orpheus.

Last season he made his concerto debut at the Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of chief conductor Yakov Kreizberg. He performed in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony and Queensland Orchestras and toured to Italy and Prague with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Elsewhere he has performed with the Sonderjyllands Symfoniorkester and Aarhus Symfoniorkester in Denmark and toured China and the Far East with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Alongside his concerto appearances, Paul is a dedicated chamber musician and has been a member of the Nash Ensemble since 1997 with whom he tours regularly to Germany and America.

Paul plays on a cello made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in Paris in 1846.