Biography

Meredith Steele is a North American cellist currently based in Melbourne, Australia. She has performed as both a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, the United States, Asia, and Australia. She has had the opportunity to perform alongside prominent artists like Miriam Fried, Cathy Cho, and Natasha Brofsky in multiple chamber music performances. Awarded multiple prizes in the United States and Australia, she was the recipient of the Otti Veit Violoncello Scholarship for excellence at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 2024. 

Meredith received her Bachelor of Music degree from East Carolina University with Professor Emanuel Gruber. She then completed a Master of Music performance degree as an Eckstein Merit Scholar at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois under the guidance of Professor Hans Jørgen Jensen. Her continued passion for learning and performing led to a pursuit of a Ph.D. in Music Performance at the University of Melbourne, supported by the Research Training Scholarship. Over the last three years, she has also had the opportunity to conduct research with the Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Newberry Library, and Northwestern University’s Deering Library.

As a doctoral candidate, Meredith’s professional development has led to many chamber and solo opportunities, including performances in Melbourne, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Beijing, China; Tianjin, China; and Porto, Portugal. Meredith’s performances were supported by the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music through a number of scholarships, including the Research Training Scholarship, the Faculty Graduate Researcher Fund, and the 2026 Michael and Rose Del Monaco Award.

Meredith’s doctoral research consists of an examination of Richard Strauss’ tone poem Don Quixote, Op. 35. Her work largely focuses on its historical performance practices of the early 20th century, as well as a performance practice guide of the solo cello part for performance preparations and orchestral cello auditions.

As a teacher, Meredith has served as a private instructor of the Evanston Young Artists program, a non-profit organization that provides free lessons to underserved students in the Chiago area. She also served as cello faculty at the Music Conservatory of Illinois while completing her master’s studies at Northwestern University. During her candidacy at the University of Melbourne, she provided private and group instruction to undergraduate students to aid their academic development.