Over the last decade, Alban Gerhardt has established himself as one of today’s leading cellists. The sound of his performances is unmistakable, and his repertoire is distinguished by its great originality. The cello begins to sing under his hands, common works are rediscovered, and unknown works are brought to life again. Gerhardt fascinates audiences with the combination of an unmistakable musical instinct, intense emotionality, and naturalness, conferring great stage presence. He is especially concerned with helping audiences break with old listening habits in concerts and attracting a younger audience to classical music through pioneering projects such as his collaboration with Deutsche Bahn on Germany’s main commuter routes.
After his early successes in competitions and his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Semyon Bychkov, Alban Gerhardt has performed with more than 250 orchestras around the world, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Tonhalle Zurich, Gürzenich Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, NHK Symphony, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner, Marek Janowski, Sir Colin Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Fabio Luisi, Sakari Oramo, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Christian Thielemann, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Vladimir Jurowski, and Andris Nelsons.
Alban Gerhardt’s repertoire includes more than 70 different cello concertos, and he enjoys rescuing lesser-known works from undeserved obscurity. His collaborations with composers such as Thomas Larcher, Peteris Vasks, Brett Dean, Jörg Widmann, Osvaldo Golijov, Mathias Hinke, and Matthias Pintscher demonstrate his commitment to expanding the cello repertoire. In 2009, he performed the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, composed for him. Commissioned by the BBC, it premiered at the Proms (his sixth appearance at the Proms) and has since been performed in the Netherlands, Germany, the Far East, Scandinavia, and the USA.
His recent and upcoming engagements include his third visit to the Berlin Philharmonic to perform Chin’s Cello Concerto with Myung-Whun Chung and engagements with the Boston and San Francisco Symphonies, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Radio Philharmonic of the Netherlands, Czech Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, DSO and RSB Berlin, and a tour of Australia, including the Adelaide and West Australia Symphony Orchestras. From 2012-15 he is artist-in-residence with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and in 2014/15 Artist-in-Focus at Wigmore Hall when he will give recitals with Steven Osborne and Cécile Licad and Quintets with Brett Dean, Baiba Skride, Gergana Gergova and Nils Mönkemeyer as part of an extensive European tour.
His discography is highly praised, having won three “ECHO Classic” Awards, with his double CD of the complete cello works of Benjamin Britten nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2013. He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and Hyperion, spearheaded by his series “Romantic Cello Concertos”.
Alban Gerhardt plays a unique instrument by the renowned luthier Matteo Gofriller. On his blog www.albangerhardt.com, he recounts his travels and artistic experiences.