Brian Thornton is a musician of many interests. As cellist and conductor, he has performed in hundreds of venues across the world, from The White House in Washington,D.C., to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing,China. He has performed as soloist with over 30 orchestras, and conducts his own ensemble located in Solon,Ohio. Having a special interest in modern music has led him to premier works of little known to well known composers such as Donald Erb and John Adams. Brian has taken part in premiering over 100 new works of music, either as a soloist or in chamber ensembles. Brian especially enjoys taking part in concerts that benefit special causes, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Society, and took part in concerts in Cleveland for the Red Cross for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan. As a teacher, Brian has given master classes from California to Germany, and enjoys passing on the knowledge given to him by his teachers, Lev Aronson, Lynn Harrell, John Sharp and Steven Geber. Brian has been a Yamaha Artist since 2010, and makes frequent trips to Japan to teach and play outreach concerts there. He spends his days enjoying time with his wife Jennifer Woda, a mezzo-soprano, and his daughters, Maya and Madelyn. Evenings are spent performing with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, where he has been in the cello section for 19 years.
Brian founded the Lev Aronson Festival in honor of his teacher, an extraordinarily gifted cellist and teacher. The festival starts June 9 at Southern Methodist University and includes recitals and masters classes by Aronson's students, including Thornton, Norman Fischer, Ralph Kirshbaum, Andres Diaz, and more.
In this Live from KeyBank Studio session, Brian performed the following works:
Bach Solo Cello Suite no. 3 in C-major
Paganini Caprice no. 24 arranged for Cello