“Gartner presented a kaleidoscope of tonal colour.” Judith Crispin – citynews.com.au (10/5/15)

“…cellist Geoffrey Gartner imbuing the line with a sumptuous sound…” Alan Holley – classikon.com (Jan 2015)

“…fantastically frenzied…” Felicity Clark – RealTime (Aug-Sep 2011)

“…resplendent and flawless.”  Lloyd Bradford Syke – Curtain Call (07/04/11)

Australian cellist Geoffrey Gartner quickly worked out his penchant for new music set him apart from most musicians his age. As an undergraduate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music  he frequently exasperated his cello teacher, Georg Pedersen, by bringing microtonal nasties to lessons instead of Popper’s Studies.

Whilst discovering the joys of Xenakis and Rădulescu, Geoffrey was simultaneously working in a piano trio playing the great chamber works of the past. He spent years honing his ensemble skills with some of the world’s great chamber musicians, participating in master courses in Europe, Canada and Australia.

From 2002-2009 Geoffrey attended the University of California San Diego, completing Masters and Doctoral degrees in Contemporary Music Performance under the mentorship of Charles Curtis – a  pivotal time in his artistic existence. At UCSD he also became obsessed with Fluxus, its music, philosophy and personalities. Geoffrey loves to confound audiences with his performance-art presentations. His performances of Fluxus text scores have gained a huge number of views on YouTube, and a plethora of contentious commentary.

Nowadays Geoffrey specialises in solo and chamber music. He performs a repertoire extending from the baroque to the newest works, many of which are written for him. His recordings, both as cellist and conductor, appear on nine different labels. He has performed with numerous new music ensembles in Australia. However, his most enduring collaboration is with vocal chamber ensemble, Halcyon, with whom he has been performing for over twenty years.

Geoffrey has been a featured performer at many international festivals, including the Warsaw Autumn, ISCM World New Music Days, the International Computer Music Festival, Roaring Hoofs Festival in Mongolia and the Shanghai International Arts Festival. He has also undertaken extensive Australian tours playing ambulatory cello on stage with Sydney Dance Company.

His musical tastes are eclectic: apart from new music and western art music canon, Geoffrey is keenly interested in the music of Latin America, as well as most forms of electronic music, particularly techno. He is also a member of the choir at St Mark’s, Darling Point, and loves singing choral communion every Sunday morning.