Joshua Roman

Cellist

JoshuaRoman.com
X: @joshua_cello

Why you should listen

Joshua Roman is an internationally recognized cellist known for his wide-ranging repertoire. He has performed with leading orchestras around the United States and the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, Toronto Symphony, BBC Scottish and Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, and he was principal cellist at Seattle Symphony from ages 22 to 24. Equally accomplished as a composer and as an interpreter of the music of other contemporary composers, he plays an 1830 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda on a generous loan through The Stradivari Society of Chicago. He is a TED Fellow.

Joshua Roman’s TED Talks

Robert Gupta, Joshua Roman
On violin and cello, "Passacaglia"
9 minutes 4 seconds
It's a master class in collaboration as violinist Robert Gupta and cellist Joshua Roman perform Halvorsen's "Passacaglia" for violin and viola. Roman takes the viola part on his Stradivarius cello. It's powerful to watch the two musicians connect moment to moment (and recover from a mid-performance hiccup). The two are both TED Fellows, and their deep connection powers this sparkling duet.
Posted May 2011
Bill T. Jones, Joshua Roman, Somi
The dancer, the singer, the cellist ... and a moment of creative magic
6 minutes 16 seconds
Legendary dance choreographer Bill T. Jones and TED Fellows Joshua Roman and Somi didn't know exactly what was going to happen when they took the stage at TED2015. They just knew they wanted to offer the audience an opportunity to witness creative collaboration in action. The result: An improvised piece they call "The Red Circle and the Blue Curtain," so extraordinary it had to be shared ...
Posted May 2015
Huang Yi, Joshua Roman
A human-robot dance duet
4 minutes 33 seconds
Harmoniously weaving together the art of dance and the science of mechanical engineering, Huang Yi performs a man-machine dance duet with KUKA -- a robot he conceptualized and programmed -- set to stirring cello by Joshua Roman.
Posted Oct 2017
Joshua Roman
"Julie-O" / "Immunity"
8 minutes 36 seconds
TED Fellow and cellist Joshua Roman performs a rendition of "Julie-O" by Mark Summer and his own composition, "Immunity."
Posted Mar 2025
Joshua Roman
How music helped me live through long COVID
17 minutes
An accomplished cellist, TED Fellow Joshua Roman has practiced his instrument daily since he was a child — until a severe case of long COVID almost robbed him of his ability to play. In an inspiring talk, he plays a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, shares how he found his way back to music and then performs a staggering new solo composition, titled "Immunity."
Posted Apr 2025

More news and ideas from Joshua Roman

News
Inflection: The talks of TED Salon, presented in partnership with Novo Nordisk
December 2, 2024
We’ve reached a pivot point in the global conversation about our bodies. In an evening of talks, four speakers delved into how science and innovation are reshaping our understanding of well-being, health and what’s possible as we age. The event: TED Salon: Inflection, curated and hosted by Sally Kohn, and presented in partnership with Novo […]
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News
Future-facing ideas from emerging leaders: TED Talks from the Bezos Scholars
September 15, 2022
The first-ever TED Salon co-created in partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation featured incredible ideas from the Bezos Scholars — extraordinary young people thinking about the future of education, human rights, financial systems and more — as well as some special TED Fellows guests. The result of a years-long collaboration between the Bezos Scholars and […]
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We humans
Scenes from a pandemic: Firsthand stories of life in 23 countries, from the TED Fellows
April 10, 2020
To get a panoramic perspective of the pandemic, TED turned to its TED Fellows. From Afghanistan to the US, Brazil to Uganda, India to Russia -- and 17 other countries -- here are their stories.
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Joshua Roman

Why you should listen

Joshua Roman’s TED Talks

More news and ideas from Joshua Roman

Inflection: The talks of TED Salon, presented in partnership with Novo Nordisk

Future-facing ideas from emerging leaders: TED Talks from the Bezos Scholars

Scenes from a pandemic: Firsthand stories of life in 23 countries, from the TED Fellows