John Belk Artist Bio

John Belk, cellist, has studied cello with Kirsten Whitson for nine years. Responding to a challenge from Kirsten, he hasn’t missed a day of practice in more than eight of those, which has taken him from Go Tell Aunt Rhody to the Kodaly Cello Sonata.

John has played in Minnesota Youth Symphonies for five years and was the soloist with them this year for the Dvorak Cello Concerto, and has also has won prizes as a soloist in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, The Minnesota Sinfonia’s 2011 Senior division Young Artist Competition, the Thursday Musical Scholarship Competition, and the YPSCA Young Artist Competition. John plays in the Malik String Quartet under Ray Shows, with Matt Lammers, Melissa Deal, and Mark Hatlestad, and together with Melissa he performed in the showcase round of the MPR Minnesota Varsity competition.

John played his winning Young Artist Competition piece with the full Minnesota Sinfonia orchestra in July of 2011.

When not playing cello, John enjoys reading Calvin and Hobbes, playing with dogs, and spending time with friends. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.