Theodore Buchholz is the cello professor at the University of Arizona. Described by newspaper critics as a “virtuosic cellist” with a “warm beautiful sound,” he has performed in prominent venues from New York’s Lincoln Center to international halls in Italy and Tokyo.
Buchholz’s album Afterglow: The Forgotten Works for Cello and Piano by Henry Hadley was released by Centaur Records in 2020. Earning the coveted five-star rating, Fanfare Magazine stated “Afterglow displays the composer’s rich harmonic language, and allows Buchholz to show off his impeccable phrasing during which he caresses each note. Its turns of phrase could simply not be more beautifully conceived and executed.” His recording of Hans Winterberg’s Cello Sonata was released under the Toccata label in 2018. Music for a Prince was released by Toccata Records in 2021, featuring the world premiere of works for cello by Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, and William Walton. As a nationally recognized researcher, Dr. Buchholz’s book The Cellist’s Guide to Scales and Arpeggios was published and internationally distributed by Mel Bay.
A fervent believer in the power of music education to transform lives, he is the Founding Director of the University of Arizona String Project. During the summers he performs and teaches at the Zephyr Music Festival in Italy. Dr. Buchholz’s current and former students perform in orchestras and chamber ensembles around the country and they teach private studios and in schools around the world. His students have been awarded scholarships to leading conservatories and universities, and have won awards in national chamber music and solo competitions. Theodore Buchholz is the recipient of the Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award and he received the Charles and Irene Putnam Award, the College’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in teaching.