Kevin Hekmatpanah

Deeply committed to teaching, cellist Kevin Hekmatpanah is an Associate Professor at Gonzaga University, where he has taught since 1994. He is currently a member of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. His teachers have included such nationally renowned pedagogues as Stephen Kates, Fritz Magg, and Gabor Rejto, and he has received coaching from such internationally celebrated artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Janos Starker.

Mr.  Hekmatpanah is a conductor and seasoned artist and has presented hundreds of solo and chamber performances throughout the country, including locally with the Kirkland Performance Center in Seattle. He has also presented concerts of the complete works for Cello and Piano by Beethoven and over twenty cycles performing all Six Bach Suites. As a soloist he has performed with various ensembles, including the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Philharmonic, the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs in Colorado, the Southern Arizona Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, and the Vashon Chamber Orchestra. He recently presented a recital in Tromsø, Norway. A full list of his performances and awards can be found on his website, www.kevinhekmatpanah.com

“Hekmatpanah held his own via his own distinctive features as an artist. His playing is very dramatic, often to extremes. He juxtaposes sensitivity with an almost reckless abandon, which gives his performance a gripping flair ... the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations [was] a piece which seems to have been written expressly for Hekmatpanah, as a vehicle for the expression of his impressive technical skills, with its virtuosic passage work and spectacular cadenza.”--- Sidelines; Murfreesboro, TN

His award winning sound has been released on a CD containing cello sonatas by Franck, Debussy, and Chopin. To request it please contact Mr. Hekmatpanah directly through email: hekmatpanah@gonzaga.edu