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Alban Gerhardt

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Alban Gerhardt
Gerhardt in 2015
Gerhardt in 2015
Background information
Born (1969-05-25) 25 May 1969 (age 55)
Berlin, Germany
GenresClassical
OccupationMusician
InstrumentCello
Years active1987–present
Labels
Websitealbangerhardt.com

Alban Gerhardt (born 25 May 1969) is a German cellist. Since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991, he has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras.[1]

Early life and education

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Born to a musical family, Gerhardt's mother sang coloratura soprano, and his father, Axel Gerhardt, was a second violinist of the Berlin Philharmonic for over 40 years. His brother Darius is a guitarist.[2]

Gerhardt took up both the piano and cello at age eight, and studied with Marion Vetter and Götz Teutsch of the Berlin Philharmonic, and eventually began working under Markus Nyikos. He had also been a student of Boris Pergamenschikow and Frans Helmerson.[3]

Career

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Gerhardt's debut came in February 1987, when he performed the Haydn Cello Concerto No. 2 at the Philharmonie Berlin. He won top prizes in several competitions including the 1990 Deutsche Musikwettbewerb in Bonn and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich that same year. In 1993, he won the International Leonard Rose Cello Competition and in 1994, the Young Concert Artists Audition in New York.[4] His international career was launched in 1991 when he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov. Gerhardt was a member of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme from 1999 to 2001.

Gerhardt regularly appears with many of the world's leading orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Munich Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France.[5][6] In the US, he has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra among others.[7][8]

At the 2009 BBC Proms, Gerhardt performed the world premiere of Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto, which Chin composed for him.[9] He subsequently recorded the concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung for Deutsche Grammophon.[10] He has also collaborated with other composers such as Thomas Larcher,[11] Brett Dean,[12] Jörg Widmann, Osvaldo Golijov,[13] Mathias Hinke and Matthias Pintscher.

Gerhardt has won three ECHO Klassik Awards (1998, 2003 & 2009[14]) as well as ICMA[15] and MIDEM[16] Classic awards. His DG recording of Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto won the BBC Music Magazine Award in 2015[17] and was nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2015.[18] He has made several commercial records for Hyperion.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] He has also recorded for Chandos Records.[26]

Gerhardt plays a Matteo Goffriller cello,[3] made in 1710. In addition to his concert performances, Gerhardt has done various projects that have involved performance outside of traditional concert halls, such as in schools, hospitals and young offender institutions.[27] In 2012, he also began collaboration with Deutsche Bahn, involving live performances on the main commuter routes in Germany.[28]

Personal life

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Gerhardt has been married twice. His marriage to his first wife, Katalina, produced a son. His second wife is the violinist Gergana Gergova,[12] and the couple have a son.

References

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  1. ^ "Alban Gerhardt - Kennedy Center". Kennedy Center.
  2. ^ Daniel Wixforth (25 September 2009). "Meine Saite, deine Saite". Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Anne Midgette (7 August 2005). "What Is It About Germans and Their Cellos?". New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. ^ Carrington, Mark (26 July 1993). "LEONARD ROSE CELLO COMPETITION". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. ^ "ICS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - CONVERSATION WITH ALBAN GERHARDT". International Cello Society.
  6. ^ "Alban Gerhardt - Soloist". Asian Youth Orchestra.
  7. ^ "Cellist Alban Gerhardt Performs Schumann's Cello Concerto". Minnesota Orchestra.
  8. ^ "Alban Gerhardt". New York Philharmonic.
  9. ^ Andrew Clements (14 August 2009). "BBCSSO/Volkov - Royal Albert Hall, London (review of Prom 38)". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  10. ^ Andrew Clements (13 August 2014). "Unsuk Chin: Piano Concerto; Cello Concerto; Šu review – reimagining the concerto form". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. ^ Andrew Clements (29 March 2012). "Gerhardt/Larcher – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  12. ^ a b Guy Dammann (23 June 2015). "Alban Gerhardt and friends review – music-making at its most invigorating". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  13. ^ Anthony Tommasini (28 January 2008). "Texas Ensemble Plants Flag in New York". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "Die Gewinner des Klassik Echo 2009". Welt Online. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Winners 2015 - ICMA". ICMA (in French). Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Radio Swiss Classic - Musiker". www.radioswissclassic.ch. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Winners of BBC Music Magazine Awards 2015 announced | Classical-Music.com". Classical-Music.com (BBC Music Magazine). Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Awards - Gramophone Awards 2015: Finalists - Presto Classical". www.prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  19. ^ Andrew Clements (25 January 2007). "Schumann; Volkmann; Gernsheim; Dietrich: Cello Concertos, Gerhardt/ Berlin Radio SO/ Lintu". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  20. ^ Andrew Clements (13 March 2008). "Reger: Cello Sonatas; Suites, Gerhardt/ Becker". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  21. ^ Anthony Holden and Stephen Pritchard (12 October 2008). "Classical CD releases". The Observer. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  22. ^ Andrew Clements (28 November 2008). "Honegger: Horace Victorieux: Gerhardt/Rutherford, etc". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  23. ^ Tim Ashley (9 June 2011). "Alban Gerhardt: Casals Encores – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  24. ^ Fiona Maddocks (26 January 2013). "Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites – review". The Observer. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  25. ^ Tim Ashley (11 April 2013). "Strauss: Don Quixote; Till Eulenspiegel – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  26. ^ Edward Greenfield (11 July 2003). "Berkeley, Lennox: Symphony No 4; Michael Berkeley: Cello Concerto; Garden of Earthly Delights: Gerhardt/ BBC NOW/ Hickox". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  27. ^ Ivan Hewett (13 April 2011). "Alban Gerhardt: the cellist takes a bow with babies". Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  28. ^ "Alban Gerhardt: Bringing Bach to the people". Classic FM. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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