Alban Gerhardt
About
Having launched his career with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov in 1991, Alban Gerhardt has since gained recognition as one of the world’s most versatile cellists, highly regarded for his technical mastery, profound musicality, and insatiable artistic curiosity. His ability to shed fresh light on familiar scores, along with his interest in exploring new repertoire from past and present centuries, truly sets him apart from his peers.
Notable orchestral collaborators include working with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all the British and German radio orchestras, Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre National de France, Orquesta Nacional de España, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago symphony orchestras, under conductors such as Christoph von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, Klaus Mäkelä, Christian Thielemann, Simone Young, Susanna Mälkki, Vladimir Jurowski, and Andris Nelsons.
Alongside an extensive repertoire comprising all the core concertos, Gerhardt is also a go-to soloist for contemporary composers. He premiered Julian Anderson’s Grawemeyer Award-winning cello concerto Litanies with Orchestre National de France. He also premiered Brett Dean’s cello concerto, which he premiered with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker, and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Highlights in the 2023-24 season included performing with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Marin Alsop, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln with Susanna Mälkki, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Andrew Manze, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Simone Young.
A prolific recording artist, Gerhardt has received several awards for his recordings, including an ECHO Klassik Award in 2008 for "Reger: Cello Sonatas" with Markus Becker under Hyperion; a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2015 for his recording of Unsuk Chin’s cello concerto with Myung-Whun Chung and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Deutsche Grammophon (for which he was also shortlisted for a Gramophone Award); and an International Classical Music Award in 2021 for "Shostakovich: Cello Concertos" with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Jukka-Pekka Saraste under Hyperion.
Also a keen chamber musician, Gerhardt regularly performs with pianist Steven Osborne, among others. In recent years, he has collaborated on new artistic projects such as "Love in Fragments”—a poetic union of music, movement, sculpture, and spoken word—with violinist Gergana Gergova, choreographer Sommer Ulrickson, and sculptor Alexander Polzin. Gerhardt continued these collaborations throughout the 2023-24 season, appearing as the Aldeburgh Festival's "artist in focus," and in Duisburger Philharmoniker’s Kammerkonzerte series with Alliage Quintett as he took up the mantle of Duisburger Philharmoniker’s artist in residence for the season.
Gerhardt is passionate about sharing his discoveries with audiences beyond the traditional concert hall, undertaking outreach projects across Europe and the U.S. that have included performances and workshops not only in schools and hospitals, but also in public spaces and young offender institutions. Additionally, he has a strong online presence, teaching and interacting regularly with cello students worldwide through Patreon.
Gerhardt plays a Matteo Gofriller cello dating from 1710.
