Stefanie pleet biography of william

British cellist and teacher

William PleethOBE (12 January 1916 – 6 April 1999) was a well-known British cellist and an eminent teacher, who became widely known as the teacher of Jacqueline du Pré.

Musical artist

Biography

Early years

William Pleeth was born in London.

His parents were Jewish immigrants from Warsaw, Poland. Many generations of his family had been professional musicians. He started to learn the cello at six and his talent was quickly noticed. At nine he became a pupil of Herbert Walenn at the London Cello School.

At thirteen Pleeth won a two-year scholarship to study with Julius Klengel at the Conservatory in Leipzig.

Stefanie pleet biography of william

He was the youngest person ever to receive this scholarship at the time. Pleeth much appreciated Klengel. He said:

He was a wonderful t