Cellist Ben Michaels Wins London Cello Society's Keith Harvey Award

The biennial award of £2,500 is given to a UK cellist at the beginning of their career

The Keith Harvey Award is intended to support cellists under the age of 30 as they launch their careers. Given by the London Cello Society, it is in memory of the society's co-founder Keith Harvey, a distinguished British cellist who became the principal cello of the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of twenty. British cellist Ben Michaels is the 2022 recipient.

Michaels received his first cello lessons from his father, Joel Michaels, before continuing to London's Royal Academy of Music (RAM) where he studied with Felix Schmidt and John Myerscough. Prior to embarking on further cello study at RAM, he received a biochemistry degree from the University of Cambridge.

Michaels is the cellist of the Hill Quartet, who were RAM Fellows between 2020 and 2022. The quartet has a strong focus on the commissioning of contemporary music and also aims to expand the string quartet repertoire by curating and performing cross-genre art forms.

In September 2022, the group will take up a three-year residency at Wolfson College, Oxford.