"I always try to play better and make fewer mistakes than in my last performance. I really like going to concerts to hear new and familiar music and to learn how other musicians do things. You can learn a lot about phrasing or shaping music, for example, by listening to singers."
ROBERT IBELL
Cellist Robert Ibell has been a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) since 1993. He is also member of the Aroha String Quartet, the viola-cello-bass trio Amazon and the contemporary music group Stroma. Robert performs with Chamber Music New Zealand and is a Recording Artist for Radio New Zealand Concert and performs in duo and solo recitals.
Robert came to the cello a bit by accident. “I enrolled at Saturday Morning Music Classes, which at that time were run by Viv Bevan at Palmerston North Boys High School. I wanted to play the clarinet, but Viv told me I was to play the cello.” Not knowing much about either instrument, Robert didn't argue. “The clarinet would've been much easier to cart around, but I'm glad I ended up with the cello.”
From 1986 to 1992, Robert lived in London where he studied cello with Tania Hunt, Derek Simpson and Christopher Bunting. Returning to New Zealand in 1993 he joined the cello section of the NZSO.
Highlights of Robert’s career include playing Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony in the NZSO under Russian conductor Alexander Lazarev in the 1994 International Arts Festival, performing Gillian Whitehead's string quartet Moon, Tides and Shoreline to audiences in New Zealand, Austria and China in 2010, and the NZSO's tour of Europe in 2010 in cities such as Vienna, Geneva, Zürich, Freiburg, Düsseldorf, Essen and Hamburg.
Born in Dannevirke in 1961, Robert moved to Palmerston North in 1971 where he lived until 1984. He attended Palmerston North Intermediate School, Freyberg High School, Palmerston North Teachers' College and Massey University.
