About us

She has toured extensively throughout Europe and elsewhere, performing in the United States, South America, the Antilles, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Israel, and Finland, and played recitals in the Kleine Zaal of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Meistersaal in Berlin, and at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. As a soloist she has appeared with orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic, performing cello concertos such as C.P.E. Bach No.3, J.S. Bach (arr. Double concerto for 2 Violins) Beethoven's Triple concerto, Boccherini B-flat, van Gompel, Gulda, Händel for 2 Cellos, Haydn C and D major, Hans Kox, Schumann, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Vivaldi (Double Concerto for 2 Cellos and Double Concerto for Violin & Cello).

“Pamela Smits is superb.. with a clear mastery of her instrument, excellent intonation and a deep expression in her performance.” -Nick Peros, Phoenix Classical, Canada

Pamela has several world premieres to her name: the 2^nd Cello Solo Sonata (2013) of Hans Kox dedicated to her; the Requiem ‘Infinite Compassion’ (2014) for cello solo, choir, and orchestra specially written for her by Frank van Gompel; andShadows Fade (2023) on a theme from Mozart's Lacrimosa for cello solo and string orchestra by Heather Pinkham. This last piece was written especially for, and dedicated to, Pamela and the Netherlands Youth String Orchestra (NJSO) with conductor Carel den Hertog, who presented it in a mini-tour together in June 2023 in The Netherlands. In March 2024 she gave the world premiere of the Impromptu nr.2 voor violoncello solo by Orkun Ağır, specially written for her, at Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam.

“The Sonata, dedicated to her, fits her like a glove: musical extremes that demand great technical skill.. The soulful playing of Smits inexorably impresses that despair upon the listener...The last movement provides ample scope to Smits’ intuitive almost improvising way of playing.”-Haarlems Dagblad, the Netherlands.

In 2010, Pamela was invited for three seasons by the Posthuis Theater in Heerenveen (NL) to create her own annual series of seven concerts; the Pamela Smits and Friends Concerts, where she performed with acclaimed artists such as violinist Isabelle van Keulen and trumpeter Peter Masseurs, and organized masterclasses. Pamela regularly gives recitals, such as with German pianist Sabine Simon, with whom she has been collaborating for almost 25 years, performing in joint recitals in various tours together in the USA, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. With pianist/composer Olli Mustonen, she gave a well-received recital in Amsterdam (2021), including the performance of Mustonen’s Taivaanvalot (Heavenly Lights 2019) for tenor, cello and piano, together with Mexican baritone Emmanuel Franco and the composer behind the grand piano. She has been collaborating regularly with Dutch pianist Tobias Borsboom ever since 2017 after inviting him as a guest-programmer of the concert series Vriendenconcerten. Their playing was immediately met with great enthusiasm by the press and public.

“They enchanted with their playing ..There two poets of the keys and strings had found each other.” - Westdeutsche Zeitung, Germany.

She has recorded several CDs; Felix Austria and The French Cello with German pianist Sabine Simon; All-time Favourites with pianist Maarten den Hengst; Die Todesfrau by Hans Kox with flautist Abbie de Quant and the Netherlands Chamber Choir; and Hungarian Canvas with pianist Tobias Borsboom, including Kodály Sonata for Solo Cello Opus 8.

An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as the Miami String Quartet; clarinettist Michael Collins; pianists Olli Mustonen, Paolo Giacometti, and Jee Won Oh; violinists Isabelle van Keulen, Jaime Laredo, Elisabeth Perry; and many others. She has worked intensively with violinist Tosca Opdam in recent seasons after asking her to be artist-in-residence at the concert series Concerts Foundation . She is the founding cellist of the Pentachord Ensemble; with violinist Emi Ohi Resnick, violist Mikhail Zemtsov, double bass player Quirijn van Regteren Altena, and pianist Maarten den Hengst; and the Voyager Trio, with saxophonist Arno Bornkamp and pianist Tobias Borsboom. She also enjoys interdisciplinary liaisons with actors, writers, and visual artists, such as music painter Maryleen Schiltkamp en autor Jan Brokken. Together with Dutch cabaret artist Vincent Bijlo, she recorded the song Dokter Perel for Stolpersteine in Music in 2025.

In 2008 Pamela gave a masterclass via an at-the-time pioneering high-speed internet connection in collaboration with Internet2, InHolland, and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, which was viewed at universities all over the world. Having taught since the age of 16, she also served as a teaching assistant to Jirí Prchal at the Stedelijk Conservatory Leeuwarden for three years. She has given masterclasses in Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands, at such locations as Duke University, Newark Academy in New York, the NRC Café in Amsterdam, the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt, and was the cello and chamber music teacher of the summer course at the Landesmusikakademie Hessen in Schlitz (Germany) from 2012-2015. From 1994 to 1997, she was the principal cellist of the New World Symphony directed by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Ms. Smits studied with Czech cellist Jiří Prchal at Stedelijk Conservatory Leeuwarden, with Jean Decroos (principal cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the time) at Sweelinck Conservatory Amsterdam, and with Janos Starker at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA). She participated in summer courses and masterclasses given by Anner Bylsma, Lynn Harrell, Steven Isserlis, Paul Tortelier, Miloš Sádlo, Ivan Monighetti, Saša Večtomov Ivan Monighetti, Natalia Gutman, and the renowned pianist/teacher György Sebök in Ernen, Switzerland.

www.pamelasmits.com