Peter Stumpf is the former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He was educated first at the Curtis Institute of Music as a student of

Orlando Cole Orlando Cole (August 16, 1908 – January 25, 2010) was an American cello teacher who taught two generations of soloists, chamber musicians, and first cellists in a dozen leading orchestras, including Lynn Harrell, Jonah Kim, Ronald Leonard, ...

and then the New England Conservatory. He started his professional career at age sixteen as a cellist in the Hartford Symphony, then spent twelve years as associate principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra, before assuming his position at the start of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2002/2003 season. He took a year's sabbatical from the LA Phil in 2011 to teach full-time at Indiana University's Jacob School of Music. He left the orchestra permanently in 2012. Stumpf is also the cellist of the Johannes String Quartet. Musicians he has collaborated with include

Emanuel Ax Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born 8 June 1949) is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is a teacher in the Juilliard School. Early life Ax was born to a Polish-Jewish family in Lviv, Ukraine, (in what was then the Soviet Union) to Joachim and ...

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

Mitsuko Uchida is a classical pianist and conductor, born in Japan and naturalised in Britain, particularly noted for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. She has appeared with many notable orchestras, recorded a wide repertory with several labels, w ...

, and the

Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and beg ...

. Stumpf has also taught the cello at the New England Conservatory and

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

Stolen cello

On April 27, 2004, the '' General Kyd'', a $3.5 million

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are c ...

on loan to Stumpf from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was stolen after he left it on his porch. It was discovered in a dumpster by Melanie Stevens, a thirty-year-old nurse, after a home surveillance video from across the street showed the cello being lifted by a clumsy thief on a bicycle at around 6:30 am. Stevens initially asked her boyfriend to turn it into a CD cabinet, though a week and a half later, she caught a news report about the missing cello and the $50,000 reward for its return. She identified it on the police website and sought to return it, with the aid of a lawyer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stumpf, Peter American classical cellists Living people American music educators Curtis Institute of Music alumni New England Conservatory alumni New England Conservatory faculty USC Thornton School of Music faculty Year of birth missing (living people)