Cello

Having launched his career with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov in 1991, Alban Gerhardt has since gained recognition as one of the most versatile cellists, highly regarded for his performances, from solo Bach through the classical and romantic canon to collaborations with several contemporary composers.

For over thirty years, he has made a unique impact on audiences worldwide with his intense musicality, compelling stage presence and insatiable artistic curiosity. His gift for shedding fresh light on familiar scores, along with his appetite for investigating new repertoire from centuries past and present, truly set him apart from his peers.

Notable orchestra collaborations include Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London Philharmonic, all of the British and German radio orchestras, Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre National de France as well as The Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, under conductors such as Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christian Thielemann, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Kirill Petrenko and Andris Nelsons.

Gerhardt recently premiered a new cello concerto by Julian Anderson with Orchestre National du France, following on from the success of his performances of Brett Dean’s concerto premiered with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker and played with Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. This coming season he performs the Anderson concerto with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Dean concerto with ORF Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Gerhardt has a residency with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris. He also performs with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gerhardt has won several awards, and his recording of Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, released by Deutsche Grammophon, won the BBC Music Magazine Award and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in 2015. Gerhardt has recorded extensively for Hyperion; his recording of complete Bach suites was released in 2019 and was one of the Sunday Times top 100 CDs of the year (all genres included). His recent album Shostakovich: Cello Concertos with the WDR Sinfonieorchester, Köln and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, was awarded the International Classical Music Award in 2021.

He is a keen chamber musician; his regular performance partners include Steven Osborne and Cecile Licad. Most recently he has collaborated on a new artistic project ’Love in Fragments’ with violinist Gergana Gergova, choreographer Sommer Ulrickson, and sculptor Alexander Polzin. A poetic union of music, movement, sculpture and the spoken word, the project successfully premiered at 92nd St Y in New York. In the upcoming season, he embarks on a trio tour with Markus Becker and Veronika Eberle. Recital engagements include Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and Wigmore Hall in London.

Gerhardt is passionate about sharing his discoveries with audiences far beyond the traditional concert hall: outreach projects undertaken in Europe and the US have involved performances and workshops, not only in schools and hospitals, but also pioneering sessions in public spaces and young offender institutions.

Alban Gerhardt plays a Matteo Gofriller cello dating from 1710.