Joshua Roman Signs with Cliburn Agency for General Management

The Cliburn Agency is proud to announce that visionary cellist Joshua Roman has joined its roster. Launched one year ago, the full-service firm offers comprehensive general management, concert booking, project management, and publicity and branding services to a select group of rising and established instrumentalists—piano and beyond—whose high artistic caliber is paired with a vision for moving the field of classical music forward. 

JOSHUA ROMAN

A common mission makes Joshua and the Agency just the right match: he’s a remarkable, inveterate talent who combines “the expressive control of Casals with the creative individuality and virtuoso flair of Hendrix himself.” (Gramophone). He’s soloed with the world’s leading orchestras; his 2017 TED conference performance became the most-viewed event on their socials; and he’s collaborated with world-class artists across genres and disciplines. His solo performance with the YouTube Symphony at Carnegie Hall was viewed by 33 million people across almost 200 countries, with Yo-Yo Ma introducing him as “one of the great exemplars of the ideal 21st century musician.” In 2024, he launched an ambitious, deeply personal project called Immunity—a unique blend of music, storytelling, and audience interaction inspired by his ongoing experience with Long COVID; his journey and the project’s impact were profiled in The New York Times Health section and NPR. In its wake, he’s ready to lean in on projects that test, inspire, and dive deep into human emotion and capacity.

A NEW APPROACH

Joshua is ready to take a new approach to his career and focus on his contribution to classical music. He’s assembling a team of experts and representatives to form a mission-focused, collaborative brain trust that will work all together under a unified vision. 

• The Cliburn Agency offers him a holistic partnership as general management, overseen by Director of Artistic Planning Sandra Doan and President and CEO Jacques Marquis. It will continue to advance his classical engagements—concertos, recitals, chamber music—while also fully supporting his creative projects and collaborations.
• It will also work closely with FRESH Speakers—a next-generation speakers bureau that just added Joshua to its roster—to group appearances around projects and provide communities with multiple paths to meaningful, connective experiences.
• Bassist and documentary filmmaker Adam Kahan will serve as Joshua’s manager of strategic operations, coming to the team from the Human Rights Foundation, where he was senior project manager.
• And Meighan Stone has been hired as social impact advisor. A long-time non-profit executive and advocate before developing Long COVID, Meighan Stone has led projects with the United Nations, Bono's ONE Campaign, World Economic Forum and with political campaigns, world leaders and technology corporations globally. Named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People, she previously served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, entrepreneurship fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and as the founding president of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai's Malala Fund.

IN HIS WORDS

Joshua said: "The Cliburn Agency is built on a living legacy; one of artistry, bold tradition, and music’s power to connect across boundaries. To join in this endeavor at this point in my career is deeply meaningful. Over the past several years I’ve been devoted to shaping a vision through projects, partnerships, and deep questions of purpose, and I am excited to collaborate with Sandra and Jacques on a new model to bring that vision fully to life. At the heart of my work is the love of people, and of course, the cello. I feel stronger than ever as an artist and more committed than ever to the impact music can have, through concerto appearances, collaborations, signature projects, and the building of relationships and connections that bring music into deeper conversation with the world around us. I could not be more thrilled for this alignment, which opens new paths to explore together the transformative role music plays in our lives."

FROM THE CLIBURN AGENCY

Cliburn President and CEO Jacques Marquis said: “We at the Cliburn feel fortunate to enter into this new journey with Joshua Roman. He represents so many things at the heart of the Cliburn: excellent musicianship, a unique voice, devotion to presenting classical music in new ways, accessibility to new audiences. He will complement the other extraordinary musicians on our roster so well; with the now seven brilliant, innovative, talented artists of the Cliburn Agency, we believe the possibilities are endless.”

In addition to Joshua, the Cliburn Agency roster comprises Anderson & Roe Piano Duo; Greg Anderson, piano; Peter Dugan, piano; Fei-Fei, piano; Bridget Kibbey, harp; and Clayton Stephenson, piano. From intriguing programming and projects to alternative concerts and community engagement, these touring musicians are dedicated to connection and creativity—and they are partnering with the Cliburn to enhance and magnify their careers, efforts, and impact.

Visit cliburnagency.com to learn more.
Hi-res photos of all Cliburn Agency artists are available here.

MORE ABOUT JOSHUA ROMAN

Joshua Roman is a cello soloist and composer, hailed for his “effortlessly expressive tone… and playful zest for exploration” (The New York Times), as well as his “extraordinary technical and musical gifts" and “blend of precision and almost improvisatory freedom… that goes straight to the heart" (The San Francisco Chronicle). His genre-bending programs and wide-ranging collaborations have grown out of an “enthusiasm for musical evolution that is as contagious as his love for the classics" (The Seattle Times).  

Committed to bringing classical music to new audiences, Roman opened the acclaimed 2017 TED Conference—and his performance of the complete Bach Cello Suites after the 2016 U.S. presidential election was the most-viewed event in the history of TED’s social channels, with nearly a million live viewers. Joshua has collaborated with world-class artists across genres and disciplines, including Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, DJ Spooky, Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Bill T. Jones, GRAMMY®-winning East African vocalist Somi, and Tony-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith.  

As a soloist, Joshua’s “exceptionally high quality of performances” (The Los Angeles Times) combine “the expressive control of Casals with the creative individuality and virtuoso flair of Hendrix himself” (Gramophone). 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 of the Seattle Symphony from age 22 to 24.

Joshua released the ambitious and deeply personal Immunity in October 2024 on Bright Shiny Things. The album—his first as a solo artist—is an intimate musical exploration of Roman’s life-altering experience of ongoing Long COVID, with music ranging from J.S. Bach to George Crumb to Caroline Shaw, as well as Roman’s own compositions. Since the album’s release, he has continued raising awareness of the condition and the importance of finding strength in vulnerability through performances and speaking engagements in the U.S. and abroad. These engagements have included residencies at Stanford University and Yale University; participation in the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum; and well-being concerts at Carnegie Hall. Joshua is set to launch a second musical project in spring 2026, building on the success and impact of Immunity.

Joshua’s 2025–2026 season features the continuation of his Immunity project, both on tour and with Long COVID clinics throughout the East Coast in December 2025; as well as ongoing trio performances with violinist Tessa Lark and double bassist Edgar Meyer in festivals and recital halls across the United States. Additional highlights of this season include concerto appearances with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, Heartland Festival Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, and Bellingham Symphony Orchestra. 

Joshua Roman plays an 1830 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda on a generous loan through The Stradivari Society of Chicago.