About
Alban Gerhardt has gained recognition as one of the most versatile cellists in the world, highly respected for his technical mastery, deep musicality, and unquenchable artistic curiosity. In addition to performing the standard cello repertoire, Gerhardt's repertoire includes numerous contemporary works, such as concertos by Unsuk Chin and Brett Dean, which he commissioned. He has collaborated with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Orchestre National de France, the Orquesta Nacional de España, as well as all the major British and German radio orchestras, under the direction of conductors such as Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Karina Canellakis, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, Klaus Mäkelä, Christian Thielemann, Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, and Andris Nelsons. As a passionate chamber musician, Gerhardt regularly performs with pianists Steven Osborne and Alexei Volodin, as well as with the Alliage Saxophone Quintet. His album of complete Bach suites, recorded for Hyperion, was ranked among the top 100 recordings by The Sunday Times in 2019. His recording of Shostakovich cello concertos with the WDR Sinfonieorchester and Jukka-Pekka Saraste won the ICMA award in 2021. In addition, a recording of Unsuk Chin's cello concerto, released by Deutsche Grammophon, won the BBC Music Magazine Award and was shortlisted for the Gramophone Award in 2015. As a resident artist, Alban Gerhardt has performed at Wigmore Hall with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony. He is the artistic director of the Young Euro Classics Festival in Berlin, together with composer Mathias Hinke, since 2025. Alban Gerhardt plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1710.
Olari Elts is an Estonian-born conductor, born in 1971 in Tallinn. He is currently the principal conductor and artistic director of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. He is also the founder of the chamber ensemble NYYD Ensemble, which specializes in performing contemporary music. He has collaborated with Wiener Symphoniker, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and many other prominent orchestras. He is also known for his work in chamber music. He has also been involved in opera productions, including Mozart's Don Giovanni, Puccini's Turandot, and Berlioz's Fausto.
