Drew Comstock
Cello
Comstock has performed at numerous music festivals including le Domaine Forget, Stratford Summer Music, Music by the Sea, Toronto Summer Music, and Orford Musique. Sought after as a chamber music partner, he has frequently joined the Rosebud String Quartet at the Off-Centre Salon, Timothy Ying at the Hamilton Chamber Music Society, and many others around Toronto, where he calls home.
Comstock began his formal musical studies in high school, graduating from the University of North Carolina, School of the Arts. He continued his education with a BM from the New England Conservatory, a M.Mus from McGill University, and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School. His teachers and mentors include Yeesun Kim, Brian Manker, Desmond Hoebig, Andre Roy, Timothy Ying, and Steven Dann.
Cellist Drew Comstock has been praised for his “deep and sonorous” playing (South Florida Classical Review). He served as principal of the New World Symphony for three seasons under Michael Tilson-Thomas, leading performances at the Arscht Center, New World Center, and Carnegie Hall. He is the co-Founder and cellist of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, regularly joins the cello sections of the Toronto Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, and the Hamilton Philharmonic, and in 2022 was selected as a Classical:NEXT fellow for his work with the Collective Quartet - a string quartet dedicated to lowering the boundaries between audiences and musicians.
A believer in the transformative power of chamber music, Drew has performed with artists such as Anthony Marwood, Jonathan Crow, David Geringas, Steven Dann, and Mark Fewer. Alongside violinist Aaron Schwebel, Comstock has performed in Ontario prisons through the Looking at the Stars foundation. Comstock has collaborated with composers John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, and Steve Reich, and has premiered works by Efstratios Minakakis and Michael Tilson-Thomas.
