Calum Cook was born in Inverness, Scotland. He studied with Leonid Gorokhov at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England, before winning a Scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London.

Calum has since enjoyed a successful and varied orchestral career, appearing as Guest Principal Cello with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of Opera North, Scottish Opera, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera. For almost a decade he was a member of Kokoro, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary music ensemble, a group with which he gave many concerts and live radio broadcasts of new music.

In 2014 Calum left his full time position in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to become the Principal Cello of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Outside of Lyric, Calum now appears regularly in the Chicago area with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, as part of the CSO’s MusicNOW contemporary music series, and with the Rembrandt Chamber Musicians. Calum is also a member of the Northwestern University faculty.