Amit Peled (born 1973) is an Israeli-American cellist, conductor, and pedagogue. He plays a ca. 1695 Grancino cello on loan from the Roux Family Foundation.[1] From 2012-2018 he played Pablo Casals's 1733 Matteo Goffriller cello.[2] Prior to Casals's cello, Peled played a 1689 Andrea Guarneri cello.
Amit Peled's two critically acclaimed[citation needed] CDs The Jewish Soul and Cellobration were released under the Centaur Records label.[3] His third CD with Centaur Records, Reflections, was released in September 2012.[4]
He released recordings of five of Bach's Cello Suites on the albums Bach Suites 1–3 (2018)[5] and Solus et Una (2022) and Brahms' Cello Sonatas on To Brahms, with Love: From the Cello of Pablo Casals (2018).[6]
At a height of 6'1”, Peled started out as a basketball player[7] and was called "larger than life" when he enveloped his Guarneri cello[8] and "Jacqueline du Pré in a farmer's body."[9] Peled often surprises audiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music more accessible to wider audiences through explanations, jokes,[10] and even with a basketball game challenge.[11]
Peled was a student of Bernard Greenhouse and is now a sought-after pedagogue of cello at Peabody Institute.[12] When he began there, he was the youngest professor at a top musical institution.
Amit Peled is Online Master Teacher at iClassical Academy with whom he has recorded several online Masterclasses.[13]
Peled also collaborates with pianist Alon Goldstein and clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein in the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio[14] as well as with pianist Alon Goldstein and violinist Ilya Kaler in the Tempest Trio.[15]