Henry Shapard

Henry Shapard is Co-Principal Cello of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he took up in July 2025.

Prior to his seat in the LPO, Henry served from 2020 as Principal Cello of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of his tenure in British Columbia included several performances as the featured soloist with the VSO, most notably Strauss’s Don Quixote under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.

As a cello section leader, Henry is in demand around the world, appearing in Guest Principal roles with the LPO and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as well as Guest Co-Principal with the Oslo Philharmonic.

As a concerto soloist, Henry’s recent engagements include the Vancouver, Yale, Prince George and Lima symphonies, the PRISMA Festival Orchestra, and Parlando (New York City). Notable chamber music collaborations include a long-term partnership with pianist Jane Coop.

Henry was Professor of Cello at the Vancouver Academy of Music from 2023–25, and maintains an ongoing relationship with the Academy. He has also been visiting faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), and given masterclasses at Yale and Oberlin, among others.

In 2020, Henry graduated with distinction in History from Yale University, where he received numerous university prizes. During his time there, he also studied cello with Ole Akahoshi and conducting with William Boughton, whom he assisted at the Yale Symphony. In his last year as a Yale student, he was also Principal Cello of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, appointed by the late Bramwell Tovey.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was an enthusiastic student of Richard Weiss, Henry holds a deep commitment to stewardship, frequently organising workshops for incarcerated individuals in his home state.