About Justin

Hey there, I'm Justin! I've been teaching cello lessons to talented young students for nearly a decade and playing the cello for about 30 years! I started teaching young cello players while I was in college and graduate school and I kept at it all the way through the completion of my doctorate at the University of Georgia. Since 2014, I've been teaching cello lessons at my home in the north-Atlanta suburbs.

I've performed all over the world in string quartets and as a solo cello player, and I bring my experience as a performer to cello lessons. The crux of my teaching philosophy is my belief that there is no such thing as “natural talent;” that any student can learn to play the cello. I know from personal experience that the best reward for hard work is that exuberant feeling after an outstanding performance. My students perform at all different levels, and work hard to improve, week after week. They have achieved some awesome things! You can learn more about me by reading the fancy bio below or visiting my other website!

In my spare time, I enjoy running, DIY house projects, and homebrewing beer!

Check this formal biography:

Called “astounding” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer and “a rising star” by the Bay Area Reporter, cellist Justin Dougherty has performed across the U.S. and Europe as a chamber musician and solo recitalist. He has collaborated with cellists Yo-Yo Ma and David Russell, pianists Judith Gordon and Tae Kim, and violinists William Pu and Stanley Ritchie, among others.

Since 2010, Mr. Dougherty has commissioned and premiered nearly forty new works, including more than two dozen world premieres, by both emerging and established composers including Emily Cooley, Dominick DiOrio, Salvatore Macchia, and Bruce Trinkley.

Mr. Dougherty is a devoted, sought-after teacher, and maintains a large private studio of young cellists in the north-Atlanta, GA suburbs. His students have earned principal chairs in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Emory Youth Symphony, and Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestras. Others have performed with Franklin Pond Chamber Music and have played in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Beethoven Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestra, and others. Since 2015, more than 40 students have been accepted to the Georgia All-State Orchestras, six winning first chair.

Mr. Dougherty’s former students have been accepted to study cello at distinguished schools of music such as Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, New England Conservatory, and the University of Michigan. Recently, Mr. Dougherty has been invited to perform, present lectures, and teach masterclasses at the University of South Florida and his alma maters, Boston Conservatory and Penn State University.

Justin Dougherty holds performance degrees from the Pennsylvania State University, University of Georgia, and The Boston Conservatory where he was the assistant to his mentor, the renowned cellist Rhonda Rider.