Aldo Parisot

Aldo Parisot
Aldo Parisot, New Haven, May 2005
Background information
Born	(1921-09-30) September 30, 1921 (age 95) Natal, Brazil
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Cellist, Pedagogue
Instruments	Cello
Years active	fl. ca. 1946-present
Labels	Albany Records, Naxos Records, Delos International
Associated acts	Yale Cellos
Notable instruments
Cello De Munck Stradivarius

Aldo Simoes Parisot (born September 30, 1921) is a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher, was formerly a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and currently is serving as a professor of music at the Yale School of Music.

Born in Natal, Brazil, Parisot began studying cello at age seven with his stepfather, Tomazzo Babini. From Babini, he learned the importance of playing without unnecessary tension—something he credits as the foundation for the rest of his career. At the age of 12 he gave his professional debut as a cellist. From there, he moved on to become principal cellist of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro. During one of the concerts, Carleton Sprague Smith, the attaché to the American embassy was in attendance. Upon witnessing Parisot's performance of Brahms's Double Concerto with violinist Ricardo Odnoposoff, he proceeded to go backstage, and invited Parisot to attend a party thrown for Yehudi Menuhin. At the party, Smith told Parisot he would arrange for Parisot to study at the Curtis Institute of Music with Emanuel Feuermann. However, Feuermann died unexpectedly on May 25, 1942, three months before Parisot's intended arrival in the US.

Sometime later, Smith again approached Parisot, this time with an offer to pursue studies of music theory and chamber music at Yale University on scholarship. Accommodations were to be made such that Parisot could avoid taking lessons, as Feuermann was the only one Parisot was interested in studying with. Parisot accepted, and began at Yale in 1946.

At age 26, during the start of his studies at Yale, he made his United States debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the festival in Tanglewood. He embarked on his first European tour the following year. Following this he earned a degree from Yale School of Music and toured throughout the United States, Canada, and South America. According to Margaret Campbell, in her book The Great Cellists,