- 1969: Born in Berlin, Germany, into a family of musicians — his mother was a coloratura soprano, and his father was a violinist for the Berlin Philharmonic since 1966 for over 40 years.
- 1977: Took up the cello at age 8 (played the piano already for some years), studying with Marion Vetter and Götz Teutsch (Berlin Philharmonic), and later with Markus Nyikos and Boris Pergamenschikov.
- 1987: Debut at the Berliner Philharmonie with a chamber orchestra, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2.
- 1990: Won both the ARD International Music Competition and the German Music Competition, whose recording (Kodály / Debussy / De Falla / Kreisler / Paganini) was released by Primavera Records the following year.
- 1991: Debut with the Berlin Philharmonic / Semyon Bychkov, launching his career as an international soloist.
- 1993: Won the University of Maryland’s International Leonard Rose Cello Competition in the USA.
- 1998: His album Brahms (Harmonia Mundi) with pianist Markus Groh won an Echo Klassik Music Award in the Newcomer of the Year category.
- 1999: Became a member of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme for three years.
- 2000: BBC Prom debut: Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 (Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Alexander Lazarev).
- 2001: Three performances at BBC Proms: Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo); Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano (Lisa Batiashvili, violinist / Steven Osborne, pianist / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä); Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 (Steven Osborne, pianist / Lisa Batiashvili, violinist).
- 2003: Album Anton Rubinstein: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, Don Quixote, The Demon (MDG Gold) with the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra / George Hanson won an Echo Klassik Music Award in the Concert Recording of the Year category.
- 2006: His first album for Hyperion, The Romantic Cello Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Carlos Kalmar (released in 2005), got the Jury Nomination at the inaugural MIDEM Classical Awards.
- 2008: 5th Prom: Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ilan Volkov).
- 2009: 6th Prom: World premiere of Unsuk Chin’ Cello Concerto, dedicated to him (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ilan Volkov). His double CD Reger: Cello Sonatas (Hyperion, 2008) with pianist Markus Becker won an Echo Klassik Music Award in the Chamber Music Recording of the Year category.
- 2012: In cooperation with Deutsche Bahn (Germany’s main railway company), he offered live performances at German train stations. The same year, he became Artist-in-Residence with the Oregon Symphony in the USA for three seasons.
- 2013: His recording of Benjamin Britten’s complete works for violoncello on the centenary of his birth (1913 – 1976), Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites (Hyperion), with the pianist Steven Osborne and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Manze, was nominated for the Gramophone Award.
- 2014: Artist-in-Focus at Wigmore Hall London.
- 2015: Album Unsuk Chin: 3 Concertos (Deutsche Grammophon, 2014), including the world premiere recording of Chin’s Cello Concerto with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra / Myung-Whun Chung, won an International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in the Contemporary Music category, and also received the BBC Music Journal Award and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award.
- 2016: 7th Prom: Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Charles Dutoit).
- 2017: 8th Prom: Schumann’s Cello Concerto (BBC Philharmonic / John Storgårds). Founded #Musicians4UnitedEurope — a group of international musicians working together to voice their support for a united and democratic Europe.
- 2020: Debuts with Cincinnati Symphony (playing the Chin Concerto) and New York Philharmonic (playing the Dean concerto) within two weeks right before lockdown.
- 2021: His album Shostakovich: Cello Concertos (Hyperion, 2020) with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne / Jukka-Pekka Saraste won an International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in the Concertos category.
Content Featuring Alban Gerhardt
- Interview (October 6): “You Should Have a Wide Horizon. Do Not Be Too Proud to Do the Basic Routines”
- Stories (October 7): Alban Gerhardt on his Patreon
- Releases (October 9): “Shostakovich: Cello Concertos” (Hyperion)
Links
- Website: albangerhardt.com
- Patreon: Alban Gerhardt
- Spotify: Alban Gerhardt
- YouTube: Alban Gerhardt
- Instagram: @albancello
- Facebook: @albancello
- Twitter: @albancello