Joseph Hébert Faculty Profile

Joseph Hébert – San Francisco Bay Area cellist, choral director, and educator, is versatile in classical and improvisational styles of music. He has toured the United States, Japan, Africa, and Europe having shared the concert stage and recording studio with hundreds of artists from the classical and popular music worlds, including Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Placido Domingo, Ray Charles, Jesse Norman, and Harry Connick Jr. He is also a voting member of the Grammy Recording Academy and has performed on many Grammy award winning and nominated recordings. He has been described by the Oakland Tribune as “one of the most eloquently expressive cellists in the (San Francisco) Bay Area.”

Mr. Hébert served for over 15 years on the faculty of the University of California Berkeley, Young Musicians Program. While there he was a cello instructor, coach for string ensembles, as well as the String Orchestra conductor. He directed multiple choruses, with the largest choir consisting of over 100 students. The program has produced some of the top artists in jazz, contemporary and classical music genres. As a gifted educator, Mr. Hébert has given lectures and clinics to thousands of elementary through college age students locally and nationally.

Joseph is an accomplished Choral Director having traveled to Europe with his choirs and cello for performance tours of the Vatican, Rome, Florence, Assisi, and throughout Italy. For over 20 years, he directed volunteer choirs with over 150 children, teens and adults in a Bay Area church community of over 10,000 members.

Mr. Hébert is the Assistant Principal Cello of the Oakland East Bay Symphony. He performed with the Skywalker Symphony on numerous film and video recording sessions including the Grammy nominated CD compilation entitled "John Williams Conducts, John Williams the Star Wars Trilogy/Skywalker Symphony."The reviewer Wind and Wire described Joseph Hébert as “one of the most versatile cellists around…”he plays pizzicato on some tracks, making it sound like he is playing bass; then he soars with full-bowed classical treatment.”