Ilaria Brun

Ilaria Brun is a cellist praised for playing of unusual candour — a concerto soloist and recitalist heard across the UK and Europe, and one half of the Brun–Hale Duo, now in its second decade.

Next on stage

2 Nov

Aldeby Concert Society

19:30 · Corn Exchange, Aldeby

Fauré — Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109

Debussy — Sonata in D minor

Poulenc — Sonata, FP 143

with Tomas Hale, piano — the Night Songs programme

17 Nov

The Averill Sinfonia

19:00 · Sallow Hall, Leeds

Elgar — Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85

Sibelius — Symphony No. 5

Returning to the orchestra she once led from the front desk.

15 Dec

Hollowmere Festival

The Tithe Barn, Hollowmere

Schubert — String Quintet in C, D. 956

Ravel — Trio in A minor, with festival colleagues

The festival she founded and directs; full weekend programme online.

Full diary

In the press

“Night Songs is that rare duo record on which nobody accompanies anybody: Brun and Hale play the Debussy like two people finishing each other's arguments, and the Fauré like an apology neither will make out loud.” ★★★★★
— The Chamber Review, Ruth Calloway (on Night Songs) April 2026

“Brun played the Elgar as a homecoming rather than a farewell — the Averill strings leaning towards her like a family listening to news from abroad.”
— Fermata, Douwe Merten (Elgar Cello Concerto, Sallow Hall)

“A cellist of unusual candour: nothing is generalised, nothing is for show.”
— The Listening Post

On record

Night Songs

Lantern Records, March 2026

Ilaria Brun, cello

Tomas Hale, piano

The duo's tenth-anniversary record: Fauré, Debussy and Poulenc, recorded close and late in a converted chapel — sonatas played the way they feel at the end of a recital rather than the beginning.

“Night Songs is that rare duo record on which nobody accompanies anybody: Brun and Hale play the Debussy like two people finishing each other's arguments, and the Fauré like an apology neither will make out loud.” ★★★★★
The Chamber Review, on Night Songs

Listen Night Songs — album booklet (PDF)

Alone in a Room: Kodály, Britten, Dutilleux

Lantern Records, October 2024

Ilaria Brun, cello

Solo cello, recorded in an empty hall in January with the heating off: the Kodály sonata, Britten's first suite, and the Dutilleux strophes — music that asks the player to hold a room with nothing in reserve.

Record of the Month — The Chamber Review

Elgar: Cello Concerto · Bridge: Oration

Greyline Classics, June 2019

Ilaria Brun, cello

The Averill Sinfonia

Aksel Storm, conductor

Made in her final season as the Averill's principal cello — the concerto she grew up on, with the orchestra that watched her grow into it.