Cellist Irene Sharp has Died

Sharp taught some of America's foremost cellists, and was on faculty at UC Berkeley

The acclaimed cello teacher Irene Sharp has passed away. Sharp was a member of the faculty at the Mannes College of Music and UC Berkeley, and many of her students went on to play in orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra — as well as maintaining flourish solo and chamber music careers.

Sharp was the Artistic Director of California Summer Music, a festival based in Northern California. She also served on faculty at the Meadowmount School for Strings, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, and Indiana University's String Academy.

She maintained connections with some of the world's best cellists, including Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Leonard Rose, Pablo Casals, Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman, and Natalia Gutman — and her students benefited greatly from receiving technique advice from these players.

In 1992, she was the recipient of an Outstanding Teacher Award from the American String Teachers' Association (ASTA).

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of a shining light in the music world, cellist and pedagogue, Irene Sharp," wrote the American Cello Institute. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and her students."

Our condolences to Sharp's family, friends, and colleagues.