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Alban Gerhardt Cellist

A bonafide young lion, a true virtuoso..(who) produces on his instrument the sonorities of voice and orchestra, the fullness of a string quartet, along with an emotional range that seems to encompass the entire human condition�, Alban Gerhardt is rapidly emerging as one of the most promising artists of his generation.

Since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which led to two engagements as recita-list on the Berlin Philharmonic Recital Series, his international career has flourished and he has since performed as soloist and recitalist in many of the world's leading venues. He has appeared with major orchestras throughout Europe including the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Radio Orchestras of Hanover, Baden-Baden, Cologne and Bavaria, the London Sinfonietta, Orchestre National de Belge, Orchestre Philharmonic of Nice and Nancy, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and the Vienna Tonknnstler Orchestra; with such conductors as Semyon Bychkov, Sir Colin Davis, Gerd Albrecht, Christof Perrick, Fabio Luisi, Hans Graf and Carlos Kalmar. He also toured Israel with the Israel Sinfonietta. In Japan, he appeared as soloist with the Shinsei Symphony, the Nagoya Symphony and has performed a recital at Tokyo�s Suntory Hall.

Alban Gerhardt's 1997/98 season begins with the recording of three Brahms Sonatas in Paris with Markus Groh (in collaboration with Harmonia Mundi and Radio France). Other highlights include performances at Vienna's Musikverein, the London Philharmonic with Paavo Jarvi and the Leipzig Gewandhaus under the direction of Kurt Masur. He will also perform with the Essen Philharmonic conducted by Walter Weller, the Orchestre National de Belge as well as in recital at Paris' Musee d'Orsay for the second time. His schedule also includes participation at the Manchester International Cello Festival.

In addition to his debut at London's Wigmore Hall, highlights of Mr. Gerhardt's 1996-97 season internationally included a performance with the St.Petersburg Philharmonic (at the World Cello Congress II in Petersburg, Russia, celebrating Mstislav Rostropovich's birthday) and the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw under the direction of Jeffrey Tate. Germany's public television broadcast a 30-minute program featuring the artist in Fall, 1996.

Concerts with the Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra (NM), in Vancouver (BC), La Jolla (CA), Tucson (AZ), College Park Pittsburgh (PA, Carnegie Hall)are some of the cities in North America where Alban Gerhardt earned rave reviews. Alban Gerhardt made his highly acclaimed New York recital debut at Lincoln Center�s Alice Tully Hall in 1993 and has been represented in recital at such distinguished venues as Ravinia Festival's Rising Stars series in Chicago, Washington, DC's Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection, Boston's Gardiner Museum, and New York's Tisch Center for the Arts. He has also performed with the National Symphony under Yan Pascal Tortelier, the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra under Keith Lockheart as well as the New York Chamber Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, with whom he made his New York concerto debut in 1995. He has held educational residencies throughout the United States under such auspices as the La Jolla Music Society, the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, and at many other concert halls, colleges and universities.

Mr. Gerhardt is a frequent guest at major international music festivals. He has participated at the Schleswig-Holstein and Weimar festivals in Germany, the Colmar Festival in France, Switzerland's Davos Festival, Finland's Kuhmo Festival as well as festivals in Portugal, Sweden and the United States where he has performed chamber music at the Spoleto Festival (Charleston) and Newport and Vancouver music festival with such artists as Peter Serkin, Frank Peter Zimmerman, Chee-Yun, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jean-Philippe Collard, the Vogler, St.Lawrence and Borromeo quartets as well as Cecile Licad.

Following the release of his Brahms recording in January 1998, Alban Gerhardt will record an album of Spanish encores for EMI. He is the winner of the 1994 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the 1993 International Leonard Rose Cello Competition, the 1990 International Munich Competition and National Music Competition in Bonn. Born in Berlin in 1969 into a musical family, Alban Gerhardt played piano and cello at a young age excelling in both instruments. He pursued his career as cellist when he was 20 years old, studying in Berlin with Markus Nyikos and at the Cincinnati Conservatory with the Lasalle String Quartet and Tokyo String Quartet. He earned his Masters Degree at the Cologne Musikhochschule where he studied with Boris Pergamenchikov and Frans Helmerson. He now resides in New York City with his wife Katalina.

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