Alban Gerhardt

Alban Gerhardt

Gerhardt in 2014
Background information
Born (1969-05-25) 25 May 1969
Berlin, Germany
Genres Classical
Occupation(s) Cellist
Labels Hyperion
Deutsche Grammophon
Website albangerhardt.com

Alban Gerhardt (born 25 May 1969, Berlin) is a German cellist.

From a musical family, Gerhardt is the son of a mother who sang coloratura soprano, and his father, Axel Gerhardt, was a second violinist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for over 40 years. His brother Darius is a guitarist.[1] Gerhardt took up both the piano and the cello at age eight, and studied with Marion Vetter and Götz Teutsch of the Berlin Philharmonic, and eventually began working under Markus Nyikos. Gerhardt has also been a pupil of Boris Pergamenschikov.[2]

Gerhardt's first public performance came on 22 February 1987, when he played Haydn's Cello Concerto No.2 in D with a chamber orchestra in the Berliner Philharmonie. His international career was launched in 1991 when he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov. He won top prizes in several competitions in the early 1990s, including the 1990 Deutsche Musikwettbewerb Bonn, the ARD Competition that same year, and the Leonard Rose Competition in 1993.[3] Gerhardt was a member of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme from 1999 to 2001.

At the 2009 BBC Proms, he performed the world premiere of Unsuk Chin's Cello Concerto, which Chin composed for Gerhardt.[4] He subsequently recorded the concerto commercially for Deutsche Grammophon.[5] Gerhardt has also collaborated with other composers such as Thomas Larcher,[6] Brett Dean,[7] Jörg Widmann, and Matthias Pintscher.

Gerhardt has won three ECHO Klassik Awards (1998, 2003 & 2009[8]) as well as ICMA[9] and MIDEM[10] Classic awards. His DG recording of Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto won the BBC Music Magazine Award in 2015[11] and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in 2015.[12] He has made several commercial records for Hyperion.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] He has also recorded for Chandos Records.[20]

Gerhardt plays a Matteo Goffriller cello,[2] 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.[21] In 2012, he also began collaboration with Deutsche Bahn, involving live performances on the main commuter routes in Germany.[22]

Gerhardt has been married twice. His marriage to his first wife, Katalina, produced a son. His second wife is the violinist Gergana Gergova,[7] and the couple have a son.

References

  1. ↑ Daniel Wixforth (2009-09-25). "Meine Saite, deine Saite". Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  2. 1 2 Anne Midgette (2005-08-07). "What Is It About Germans and Their Cellos?". New York Times. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  3. ↑ Carrington, Mark (1993-07-26). "LEONARD ROSE CELLO COMPETITION". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  4. ↑ Andrew Clements (2009-08-14). "BBCSSO/Volkov - Royal Albert Hall, London (review of Prom 38)". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  5. ↑ Andrew Clements (2014-08-13). "Unsuk Chin: Piano Concerto; Cello Concerto; Šu review – reimagining the concerto form". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  6. ↑ Andrew Clements (2012-03-29). "Gerhardt/Larcher – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  7. 1 2 Guy Dammann (2015-06-23). "Alban Gerhardt and friends review – music-making at its most invigorating". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  8. ↑ "Die Gewinner des Klassik Echo 2009". Welt Online. 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  9. ↑ "Winners 2015 - ICMA". ICMA (in French). Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  10. ↑ "Radio Swiss Classic - Musiker". www.radioswissclassic.ch. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  11. ↑ "Winners of BBC Music Magazine Awards 2015 announced | Classical-Music.com". Classical-Music.com (BBC Music Magazine). Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  12. ↑ "Awards - Gramophone Awards 2015: Finalists - Presto Classical". www.prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  13. ↑ Andrew Clements (2007-01-25). "Schumann; Volkmann; Gernsheim; Dietrich: Cello Concertos, Gerhardt/ Berlin Radio SO/ Lintu". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  14. ↑ Andrew Clements (2008-03-13). "Reger: Cello Sonatas; Suites, Gerhardt/ Becker". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  15. ↑ Anthony Holden and Stephen Pritchard (2008-10-12). "Classical CD releases". The Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  16. ↑ Andrew Clements (2008-11-28). "Honegger: Horace Victorieux: Gerhardt/Rutherford, etc". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  17. ↑ Tim Ashley (2011-06-09). "Alban Gerhardt: Casals Encores – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  18. ↑ Fiona Maddocks (2013-01-26). "Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites – review". The Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  19. ↑ Tim Ashley (2013-04-11). "Strauss: Don Quixote; Till Eulenspiegel – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  20. ↑ Edward Greenfield (2003-07-11). "Berkeley, Lennox: Symphony No 4; Michael Berkeley: Cello Concerto; Garden of Earthly Delights: Gerhardt/ BBC NOW/ Hickox". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  21. ↑ Ivan Hewett (2011-04-13). "Alban Gerhardt: the cellist takes a bow with babies". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
  22. ↑ "Alban Gerhardt: Bringing Bach to the people". Classic FM. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
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