Greg Byers

In his lifelong pursuit of music, Greg Byers has overcome countless obstacles in order to become an idiosyncratic performer, composer, educator, and producer. Using improvisation, modern styles, and music technology Greg will redefine what you thought was possible on the cello!

His relationship with music began at 2 1/2, when he first studied cello in the Suzuki method. By age sixteen, he was a talented cellist, but was frustrated with the lack of personal expression he found in youth orchestras. This led Greg to explore the possibilities of the cello in a jazz context.

In 2008 Greg became the first person in the history of University of Miami to graduate with a double major in Instrumental Performance/Studio Music & Jazz on cello and bass; Summa Cum Laude.

Since then he has performed on BBC Two (Later... with Jools Holland) and Univision (Latin GRAMMYs); been a featured artist/clinician at New Directions Cello Festival, Creative Strings Workshop, and Mark Wood's Rock Orchestra Camp; arranged strings for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Birth of a Ghost by Omar Rodriguez Lopez.

He was the recipient of the 2017 Artist Initiative Grant and the 2020 Next Step Fund, a Global Music Initiative 2021 Artist-in-Residence at MacPhail Center for Music, and the winner of the International Journalists Award at the 2020 Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition.

Greg recently accepted a position as Cello Instructor at Carelton College, offering private lessons in both classical and modern cello performance. He is also a faculty member at MacPhail Center for Music, where he coaches student jazz ensembles, rock bands, and a video game music orchestra.