"The cello is my voice and the music is the story I want to tell. The music becomes so personal to me that I want to show everyone, and convince the listeners, of the greatness of the piece.

I believe in all the music I perform and if there is someone who doubts the piece, I want to convince him or her by performing it as honestly as I can.”

The Dutch cellist Amber Docters van Leeuwen captivates audiences with her warm, lush sound. Her daring concert programs ambitiously balance modern music by established composers such as Berio, Schnittke and Carter; new work written by her contemporaries like Eef van Breen; and repertoire that varies from the early 17th century to pieces that are rarely performed such as Ibert’s Ghirlarzana and Myaskovsky’s Cello Sonata No. 1.

Always looking for new ways of expression, Amber can often be found combining different art disciplines with her cello playing.While living in New York from 2007-2014 , Amber has written and performed music for a collaboration with theatre director/playwright Bryan Davidson Blue which has been performed at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre.

Under the worktitle 'The Beast' , she created a platform for herself to perform her own music as a cello solo performance with electronics.

As a chambermusician , she is part of the Helix trio with Birthe Blom and Joel Waterman, and the Dutch string quartet.

After graduating with honours from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, where she studied with Dmitri Ferschtman, Amber moved to New York, with the aid of the Fulbright Foundation. She continued her studies with Colin Carr at Stony Brook University and David Geber at the Manhattan School of Music,  from where she graduated with a Master’s degree, the Pablo Casals Award, and the Van Lier Award. Amber is the first prize winner of the 2008 National Cello Competition in Amsterdam and recipient of the Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award from the Tanglewood Music Center. She has given recitals all over the world, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam . With her broad sound and complete conviction, Amber leaves audiences wanting more, or as the prominent Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant wrote:  “...the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ shook from all the ovations.”

Amber has been signed to the record label Brilliant Classics and successfully released her debut CD 'Flavours' in 2012.