Anner Bylsma

Anner Bylsma, (born 1934), is a Dutch cellist, who plays on both modern and authentic baroque style instruments. He was born in The Hague in 1934, where he took an interest in music from an early age. He studied with Carel van Boomkamp at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and won the Prix d'excellence in 1957.

In 1959 he won first prize in the Pablo Casals Competition in Mexico. Later he was the principal cellist for six years in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1962 to 1968. He became the Erasmus Scholar at Harvard University in 1982. He is the author of the book Bach, the Fencing Master, a stylistic and aesthetic analysis of Bach's cello suites. Bylsma continues to be a towering figure in the baroque cello revival.