Earl Madison was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony for four years, 3rd stand outside. Music Director William Steinberg formally contracted him for the orchestra in August of 1965, (see a review of his audition as it appeared in the Pittsburgh Press Newspaper Sunday edition, October 17th,1965). Not included in the review were his Seven Solo appearances with the N.B.C. Symphony on the television program ” Artist Showcase ” prior to joining the Pittsburgh Symphony. He won an audition for the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago and joined the orchestra as assistant principal cello under Music Director Irwin Hoffman. “He won auditions for a position in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Music Director, Jean Martinon, in 1965 and 1966. Prior to joining the Pittsburgh Symphony, he won auditions and was offered positions with the National Metropolitan Opera Touring Orchestra, under Music Director Robert LaMarchina, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Music Director, Eleanzar de Carvalho.”

Next, Earl joined the critically acclaimed Renoir Piano Trio based in Chicago (see newspaper review).  He also played principal cello for visiting ballet companies, such as The American Ballet, Dutch Ballet and the Joeffry Ballet. He played 1st Cello for many artists including Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Dionne Warwick, Petula Clark, Liza Minnelli, Billy Eckstine, Engelbert Humperdinck and Isaac Hayes to name a few.

Earl was one of the principal cellos at Chess and Universal Recording Studios in Chicago where he worked on over 1,000 records and commercial scores. You can hear his cello playing featured on Terry Callier’s reissued recording “Occasional Rain”, originally recorded in 1971.

In 1971, he had the opportunity to perform solo recitals throughout Europe and was praised by critics for his “superb discipline…, beautiful tone, and deep musicality”.  He also won and was offered a position with the Belgium Philharmonic in Antwerpen; this audition took place in front of the entire orchestra.

Upon returning to the United States, Earl joined the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music; was a conductor of the Wisconsin Youth Orchestra in Madison, and won an audition for the Milwaukee Symphony and joined the orchestra under Music Director Kenneth Schermerhorn.

Earl moved to Los Angeles where he is presently the cellist in the newly formed Renoir Piano Trio and is active in the motion picture and television industry that includes work on over 3000 films with composers such as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Berstein, Artie Kane, Walter Murphy, Hans Zimmer, John Parker, Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin, Randy and Thomas Neuman, to name a few. Example, google Earl Madison “King of the Hill” T.V. film cello section.

He has been a member of the Academy Awards Orchestra 23 times and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of guest conductors Simon Rattle and Henry Lewis.

His solo experience includes appearing with the NBC Orchestra on the television program “Artist Showcase” on seven occasions, starting at age 16, with Joseph Gallicchio, Conductor, and Louis Sudler Host, performing concertos of Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Lalo, Haydn D Major, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, twice. He was the first African American instrumentalist to appear as a soloist on these broadcasts.

Earl was also a soloist on NBC’s Anniversary concert at Orchestra Hall with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, Rockford Symphony, River Forest Symphony, Oak Park Symphony, DePaul University Orchestra, Chicago Musical College Orchestra, Chicago Youth Orchestra as well as various community orchestras in the United States.  He has performed solo recitals throughout the United States and Europe. (See reviews)

Pittsburgh Press Newspaper – October 17, 1965