Joshua Dema, Cello

Australian-Italian Cellist, Joshua Dema was born in Melbourne and commenced cello studies aged 9. Joshua gave his first solo recital in 2013, performing Cello Suite No.4 of J.S.Bach. In 2014 he received his Licentiate of Music award with distinction and was a string finalist in the Hepzibah Menuhin competition.

An avid chamber musician, Joshua’s string quartet has recently returned from Beijing where they represented the University of Melbourne at the 2nd Annual Pacific Association of Music Schools Summit. In 2014 the quartet presented two pre-concert performances in conjunction with the Borodin Quartet and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and participated in the Melbourne Mimir chamber music festival.

Joshua hold a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne, principal teachers have included Zoe Knighton (Flinders Quartet) and Howard Penny (ANAM). He has been the recipient of the Lionel Gell foundation scholarship, the Kate Flowers scholarship, the Otti Veit Violoncello scholarship and the Corinna D’Hage String Scholarship. Joshua was recently accepted into the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago where he will commence Masters studies in late 2015.

Joshua has been selected for masterclasses with artists such as Marko Ylonen (Finland), Severine Ballon (Paris), Freidrich Gauwerky (Hamburg), Brant Taylor (Chicago), Charles Castleman and William Hennessy. Josh plans to pursue a varied career in chamber, solo and orchestral performance, whilst refining his pedagogy. In his spare time, Josh enjoys eating pho and crossfit training.