Benett Tsai

The music-making of young Australian cellist Benett Tsai has been described as “electrifying...flawless freshness” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and “charismatic, heartfelt playing full of fluid intensity” (Sydney Arts Guide). Profiled as one of the thirty “next generation young musicians making their mark” by Limelight Magazine, he gained attention at the 2022 Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, where he received both Third Prize and the Special Prize for Best Haydn Concerto as the youngest participant. He recently joined the storied roster of Young Concert Artists after winning the 2023 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions in New York. As an inaugural YCA Jacobs Fellow, he is the recipient of The Stern Young Artist Award from the Linda and Isaac Stern Foundation and holds the Anne & George Popkin Cello Chair.

Since his mainstage debut at thirteen, Benett has performed actively as a solo artist and chamber musician. He has appeared with orchestras such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Lahti, Kammerphilharmonie Metamorphosen Berlin, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra Academy. In recitals, he has been presented at venues like the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Berliner Philharmonie, City Recital Hall in Sydney, Helsinki Music Centre, and Melbourne Recital Centre. Notably, he was featured in the 2020 documentary The Way Forward, collaborating with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

In the 24-25 season, Benett will perform with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Umberto Clerici, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Anchorage Symphony Orchestra with Elizabeth Schulze, and the Kennett Symphony with Michael Hall. He will also give debut recitals at The Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) and Kaufman Music Center (New York), appear at Carnegie Hall for the YCA Season Finale, and perform on a nationwide tour of Australia with Kathryn Selby & Friends. Recent highlights include Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen at The Soraya and appearances at the Verbier Festival Academy.

Born in 2003, Benett began playing the cello at five under the guidance of his uncle and teacher, Thomas Tsai. He is currently an undergraduate student of Clive Greensmith at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.