Hugh Mackay
Scottish cellist Hugh Mackay is a versatile young artist whose musical life is denoted by an eclectic range of performing styles, repertoire, and collaborations. Hugh was awarded the 2022 Suggia Gift from Help Musicians UK, a biennial award made to an outstanding cellist in the UK. As a scholarship holder with the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund, he made his professional concerto debut with the Bremer Philharmoniker under the direction of their chief conductor Marko Letonja, with highly acclaimed performances in Die Glocke Bremen and the Konzerthaus Dortmund in 2021.
An avid chamber musician, Hugh regularly performs at festivals internationally, such as the Perth Festival of the Arts as a Cross Trust Artist of the Year, the West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival and the NUME Festival Cortona. He feels privileged to have previously collaborated with such artists as Lawrence Power, Annabelle Meare, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Guy Johnston, members of the London Haydn Quartet, the Doric Quartet, Charlotte Spruit and Edgar Francis.
Hugh recently won an Audience Prize at the 2023 Schiermonnikoog Festival (NL), where he will return in the Autumn to perform. During his studies, Hugh was the 1st Prizewinner of the 2023 Nancy Nuttall Early Music Competition, the 2020 May Mukle Cello Sonata Prize with pianist Junyan Chen, the 2021 Harold Craxton Prize and the 2019 Isaacs Pirani Piano Trio Competition.
Hugh is indebted to many esteemed cellists for their guidance and influence. He has participated in masterclasses with cellists such as Jeroen Reuling, Gary Hoffman, Sung Won Yang, Antonio Lysy, Alban Gerhardt, Alisa Weilerstein, Steven Isserlis, Natasha Brofsky, David Watkin, Philip Higham, Steven Doane and Adrian Brendel.
Highlights from the 2023/24 season include Hugh’s debut recital at the Bridgewater Hall in October and a recital tour of Scotland in February and March 2024 with close collaborator and pianist, Junyan Chen.
If Hugh is on his phone, he is completely dead to the outside world!