About Roy

Solo & Chamber Cellist · Teacher

Roy Lawson is a cellist and teacher in the Tampa Bay area with a particular interest in historically informed performance. He is a section cellist with the Tampa Bay Symphony and has also played with the Florida Orchestra and the Venice Symphony. He has performed at Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, the Mahaffey Theater, the University of Tampa, and the University of South Florida. Farther from home, he has taught and performed in the Philippines, studied in Japan, and played at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City under Dr. André Dubas.

Roy began serious study at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts with Alfred Gratta, then earned his Bachelor of Music at the University of South Florida with Helga Winold and Scott Kluksdahl.

Roy is Catholic, and his faith shapes how he listens, plays, and teaches. His patron saint is Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century abbess and composer who understood music as a living force flowing from God. The music of the liturgy keeps him grounded and reminds him why he plays.

He has taught for five years and works with students of all ages in his Tampa Bay home studio and online. He asks students to be engineers in technique and poets in musicianship. Scales and bow mechanics matter because they make real musical expression possible, and above everything else he teaches students to listen.