Cellist Tido Janssen has served on the faculty at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley since 2010 and is director of the annual UTRGV Cello Festival.
A native of Germany, Dr. Janssen studied cello performance at Folkwang Hochschule für Musik in Duisburg before continuing his studies in the US. He holds a Master of Music Degree from Boston University, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. His major teachers include Jürgen Wolf, George Neikrug, Carter Enyeart, Walter Gray, and Eugene Osadchy. His chamber music studies include coachings with the Muir Quartet, Lydian Quartet, and members of the Lyontevich and Kolisch Quartets.
Before joining the music faculty at UTRGV, Dr Janssen served on the faculty of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. As a charter member of the University of Lethbridge faculty ensemble Trio Amaranth, he has performed extensively throughout western Canada. In Abilene, TX, he was Principal Cellist of the Abilene Philharmonic and Abilene Opera Orchestras, founder and Director of the Abilene Summer Music Festival, and founding member of the Abilene Chamber Players. In the summer of 2013 he performed with the Abilene Chamber Players for the Concerti Nel Chiostro at the Conservatorio di musica “Giuseppe Verdi”, and the Abrosianeum Concerti, in Milan, Italy
As a performer Dr. Janssen has repeatedly appeared in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Canada, and throughout the US. He has been a member of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra since 2000, and has recorded for Deutsche Welle, Public Radio, and Centaur Records.