Born into an Irish family and raised in Scotland, cellist Finn Mannion began playing at a young age through regular exposure to the folk tradition of his homelands. He now enjoys a colourful career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Finn has performed all over Europe in major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Tivoli Vredenburg, Palau de la Música, Stadtcasino Basel, and Perth Concert Hall.
As a member of Trio Archai, he won First Prize and Beethoven Prize at the 2025 Schoenfeld International String Competition in China, and First Prize at the 2024 Royal Over-Seas League Competition in London. Increasingly recognised for his solo work, Finn is a 2026 BBC Scotland Young Classical Musician semi-finalist (to be broadcast on BBC Classical Now). He is a prizewinner of the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Competition, Tunnell Trust Concert Scheme, and recipient of the Beatrice Huntington and Vontobel LYRA Awards. Highlights of this season include concerto appearances with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Caledonian Chamber Orchestra in Glasgow City Halls. Since 2023, he has been Associate Artist of the Aboyne Cello Festival. Finn collaborates with pianist Ke Ma, and is regularly invited to give recitals at festivals including Swiss Chamber Music Festival, Brighton Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Mendelssohn on Mull, Whittington Festival, and Schaffhausen-Klassik.
Named a Royal Philharmonic Society Isserlis Scholar in 2019, Finn studied at the National Music School in Edinburgh before moving to Switzerland to join the class of German/Japanese cellist Danjulo Ishizaka at the Musik-Akademie Basel. He remains deeply grateful for the mentorship of Céline Flamen and for the dedication of his former teachers, Ruth Beauchamp and the late David Watkin. With a strong interest in Early Music, Finn continues to immerse himself in Baroque cello with Petr Skalka at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In recent years, Finn’s musicianship has been influenced by working closely with Rainer Schmidt, Gordan Nikolic, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Alison Wells, and Philip Higham. Further impulses stem from Alexander Lonquich, Nicolas Altstaedt, Steven Isserlis, and Thomas Adés at IMS Prussia Cove.
Finn has been generously supported by the Countess of Munster Trust, Caird Trust, Scandinavian Cello School, Cross Trust, and DOMS Stiftung. He plays a fine Italian cello by Giulio Cesare Gigli, c. 1788, kindly loaned by a private individual. Aside from music, Finn is an avid hillwalker, lover of dogs, and passionate street photographer.
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Short Bio available on request.
© Finn Mannion 2026
