Neil Heyde is the cellist of the Kreutzer Quartet and a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music, where his work focuses on the interface between performance,composition and analysis. As a soloist and chamber musician he has appeared throughout Europe, broadcasting for the BBC, WDR, ORF, Radio France, Netherlands Radio and many other networks.

New music is central to his work, and while he has commissioned and premiered many solo and chamber pieces, he is also dedicated to performing and recording neglected areas of the repertoire. Important projects have been Ferneyhough's Time and Motion Study II for solo cello and electronics (1973-76) and the complete quartets of Michael Finnissy (Metier MSV92011)and Roberto Gerhard (Metier MSV92032) - both premiere recordings. As a musicologist he has edited Faber's series of 19th century music for stringed instruments and piano, and prepared an analytical study of Debussy's sonatas.