Paul Wiancko has led an exceptionally multi-faceted musical life as a cellist, composer, and collaborator.

While earning cello performance degrees at the University of Southern California and the Colburn School with Ronald Leonard, Paul won top prizes at several international cello competitions which led him, most notably, to Poland to perform the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and to Brazil where he performed the Shostakovich Concerto with the Bahia Symphony at the Teatro Nacional.

Leading a double life, Paul converted his dorm room into a production studio and began arranging and recording strings for local underground punk bands, eventually leading to collaborations with bands like Pennywise, Veruca Salt, and Yellowcard. In 2007, Paul had the honor of performing "At Last" with Etta James at the Hollywood Bowl, and has since appeared on numerous film scores and albums, including Chick Corea's Hot House, which won a Grammy in 2013. Ever the versatile musician and improviser, Paul has toured and performed extensively with Chick Corea, Max Richter, and Jóhann Jóhannsson while working closely with them on arrangements.

An avid chamber musician, Paul's performances with Musicians From Marlboro have been described as "utterly transparent" and "so full of earthy vitality and sheer sensual pleasure that it made you happy to be alive" (Washington Post). Paul has had the pleasure of performing chamber music alongside Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Nico Muhly, and members of the Guarneri, Takács, Kronos, JACK, Parker, and Juilliard quartets, among many others. in 2009, Paul joined the award-winning Harlem String Quartet, with whom he spent 3 years performing and teaching extensively throughout the US, Europe, South America, and Africa. Paul currently writes and performs as a member of the dynamic viola/cello duo Ayane & Paul, as well as the folk-inspired Bird's Eye Trio, and tours regularly with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME).

Winner of the S&R Foundation's Washington Award for Composition, Paul's own music has been described as "dazzling" (Star Tribune) and "vital pieces that avoid the predictable" (Allan Kozinn), in which "gestural stabs and interlocking melodies swirl and gel, revealing a wealth of colors and textures" (Pop Matters). Paul has been commissioned by the Aizuri, Parker, St. Lawrence, and Attacca Quartets, yMusic, Met soprano Susanna Phillips, violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, Banff Centre, Bargemusic, and the Raleigh Civic Symphony, and has been invited to be the composer-in-residence at the Caramoor, Spoleto, Twickenham, Newburyport, Portland, and Methow Valley Festivals.

Paul performs on a 2010 Mario Miralles violoncello and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Though cello was his first love, Paul also enjoys playing guitar, bass, violin, viola, harmonica, berimbau, shamisen and theremin. He is passionate about woodworking and hiking, and never travels without a tenkara fly-fishing rod.

With Chick Corea at the Blue Note

With EL VY on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Photo: Leonardo Ramirez

With Dawn of Midi at the Ecstatic Music Festival

Photo: Charina Pitzel

With Terry Riley at National Sawdust

Lutoslawski Concerto with Polish Radio Symphony

With Mark Morris Dance Group

Photo: Charina Pitzel

With Chick Corea and Gary Burton

Photo: Leonardo Ramirez