Benjamin Hughes named Associate Professor of Cello at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)

University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Dean Pete Jutras has announced the appointment of Benjamin Hughes as CCM's new Associate Professor of Cello. His faculty appointment officially begins this fall.

Hughes is internationally recognized as one of the UK’s most dynamic and versatile cellists. For over 18 years, he has served as Principal Cellist of the BBC Concert Orchestra, captivating audiences across the UK and beyond with his commanding artistry and insightful performances. A familiar presence on BBC Radio and Television, Hughes regularly appears as a soloist and collaborator in broadcasts that spotlight both classical masterpieces and genre-defying works.

An acclaimed soloist, his performances include Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with Johannes Wildner and Friedrich Gulda’s Cello Concerto with Keith Lockhart, both broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He has also been featured as a soloist at the BBC Proms. International recital tours have taken him across Asia, including a two week tour of China and a guest appearance and masterclass at the Tianjin Juilliard School.

Beyond the BBC Concert Orchestra, Hughes is a sought-after Guest Principal, performing with many of the UK’s foremost ensembles, including the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony and Scottish Symphony Orchestras, and the Royal Ballet and Opera. Internationally, he has appeared with the Vancouver and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and has toured extensively in Europe, South America, Asia and the US.

A committed chamber musician, he was a member of the Fibonacci Sequence and the London Mozart Trio, appearing at London’s Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, Conway Hall and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Australia. His chamber recordings, featuring works by Messiaen, Schubert, Elgar and Brahms are available on the Deux-Elles and Dutton/Epoch labels. Recent international highlights include appearances at the 2023 and 2025 Busan Chamber Music Festival in South Korea and the Parker Concert Hall International Series at Brevard Music Center.

A passionate advocate for new and newly discovered music, Hughes has premiered works by composers including John Foulds, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Hess and Roxanna Panufnik. His ongoing collaboration with the BBC Singers has featured solo performances in contemporary works such as Knut Nystedt’s Stabat Mater, Panufnik’s All Shall Be Well, and Sven-David Sandström’s Nordic Requiem, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. In 2025, he joined composer Eric Whitacre and the BBC Singers in a special broadcast of his poignant and moving work, The Sacred Veil.

Equally active in the recording studio, Hughes' playing can be heard on numerous film and television scores, including Jonny Greenwood’s Norwegian Wood and productions for the BBC, Amazon, Netflix and Apple Music.

As an educator, Hughes has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London since 2016, where he has mentored the next generation of cellists, many can be seen performing with major orchestras worldwide. Hughes is currently a faculty member at Brevard Music Center. He received the award of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2015 in recognition of his achievements in music and named an Honorary Member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2005.

Hughes studied with Michal Kaznowski, Alexander Baillie and Steven Doane at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Hochschule für Künste Bremen, Eastman School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music.

An avid innovator, Hughes has designed and built two distinctive instruments: an award-winning acoustic model with a reimagined form and a semi-acoustic electric version, both featured in live performance and broadcast. His creative exploration of electronic music culminated in a BBC Radio 3 programme on Electronica and performing in Planet Earth II Live at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Jessica Cottis and Hans Zimmer.

"Benjamin Hughes is a dynamic performer and teacher, bringing a wealth of experience from his distinguished work with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music in London. We are excited to have him joining our prestigious Strings Department," said Jutras. "I am grateful to our search committee chair Rachel Calin and committee members Mark Gibson and Nick Photinos for their efforts with this successful search."