Cellist Neal Cary has been a performing member of the Richmond Chamber Players since 1989, served as Artistic Director for Interlude 2024, and is a current board member of the RCP. He participated in the Paley Festival for the first time in 2025, and looks forward to returning in 2026. He has been principal cellist with the Richmond Symphony since 1988. Since 1991, he has taught cello and chamber music at the College of William & Mary as one of the Applied Music Faculty. In 1984 he joined the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, and has served as principal cellist since 1988. Neal Cary has also served as principal cellist of the Williamsburg Symphonia from 2002-2024. In August of 2012, Cary was a member of the All-Star Orchestra, an orchestra comprised of some of the finest orchestral musicians in the United States, and has participated in five of its six seasons.

Prior to joining the Richmond Symphony, Cary was co-principal cellist of the Kansas City Philharmonic and assistant principal cellist of the Tulsa Philharmonic, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Denver Symphony orchestras. From 1994-98 he was on the Applied Music Faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University. While a student at Juilliard, he was a chamber music teaching assistant to Earl Carlyss and Claus Adam in 1980-81. While a student at Meadowmount during the summers of 1980 and 1981, he was a chamber music teaching assistant to Joseph Gingold.

Neal Cary’s major teachers have included Pat Ficarra, Robert Newkirk, Channing Robbins, and the world-renowned Leonard Rose. Cary holds a M.M. from The Juilliard School of Music.

Be sure to catch his upcoming performances of the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Richmond Symphony next season! Performance dates are March 7 and 8, 2026.