Internationally acclaimed NYU Cello faculty member, Clive Greensmith, is undoubtedly one of the most successful British cellists of his generation, having achieved extraordinary international acclaim both as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral principal and teacher. Cellist in the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet since 1999, Prof. Greensmith was also principal cellist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

While still a student, he was the recipient of numerous prizes and was awarded the coveted Julius Isserlis Scholarship and a generous grant from the Royal Society of Arts, enabling him to continue his studies at the Cologne Musikhochschule with Russian cellist Boris Pergamenschikow. He was also selected to tour Europe with the British Council and was selected to play for maestro Paul Tortelier in the internationally broadcast BBC series. At the same time Mr Greensmith was also selected to perform on the famous Royal Forster cello owned by HRH Prince of Wales, loaned exclusively to him for five years.

After graduation, Prof. Greensmith made his concerto debut with the London Symphony Orchestra. He was the First Prize winner in the Sergio Lorenzi chamber music competition in Trieste, First Prize winner in the Caltanisetta Duo competition and most importantly, second prize in the first ever “Premio Stradivari” held in Cremona, Italy in 1991. As a result of these successes, he performed regularly as a soloist in major recital series all over Europe and was invited to give a special performance of Schumann’s cello concerto replacing Misha Maisky at short notice with the Rome RAI orchestra in a nationwide broadcast.

Prof. Greensmith is a frequent guest at many international festivals having performed at Aspen, Marlboro, Norfolk Chamber Music festival, Caramoor Festival, Santa Fe, Montpellier , El Paso Pro Musica and the Barrossa Festival in Australia where he gave a highly acclaimed performance of the complete works for piano and cello by Beethoven. In the U.S., he was invited to tour with “Musicians from Marlboro” performing at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Gardner Museum in Boston, the Phildadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Kennedy Center in Washington and at the Ravinia “Rising Stars” series in Chicago.