Cellist Alban Gerhardt has earned recognition for his dedication to uncommon repertoire and for finding unconventional settings in which to share classical music. One notable example is his collaboration with Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway, which has featured him performing live aboard major domestic train lines.
Born in Berlin on May 25, 1969, Gerhardt grew up with a father who played violin in the Berlin Philharmonic and a mother who worked as a soprano. During childhood he pursued both cello and piano, receiving instruction from several Berlin Philharmonic members as well as other distinguished teachers, among them Boris Pergamenschikov. His biographical notes omit any reference to conservatory training. At age 17 he appeared at the Berlin Philharmonie in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major, and in 1991 he made his official debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. Throughout the 1990s he captured prizes in several prominent contests, among them the Leonard Rose Competition in 1993, and from 1999 to 2001 he held the title of BBC New Generation Artist. Those distinctions led to concerto engagements with leading ensembles such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, and the Chicago Symphony. As a recitalist he has appeared at the Phillips Collection Museum in Washington, D.C., Wigmore Hall in London, and the Shanghai Concert Hall. His first commercial recording, simply titled Alban Gerhardt, cello, appeared in 1995.
With mounting visibility, Gerhardt has increasingly directed his energies toward commissioning and championing contemporary works instead of concentrating on the familiar canon of cello concertos and chamber pieces. He commissioned a Cello Concerto from Unsuk Chin and introduced it at the BBC Proms. Additional partnerships with living composers have included Jörg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, and Brett Dean. During the 2019 season he joined a violinist, a sculptor, and a choreographer to create the multimedia piece Love in Fragments. Gerhardt has remained outspoken about cultivating fresh listeners for classical music. Beyond the Deutsche Bahn project, he has played in hospitals, schools, and correctional facilities. Although he has recorded for several labels, his principal affiliation since 2005 has been with Hyperion. In 2019 he issued a complete set of Bach’s Suites for solo cello. The next year he joined the WDR Sinfonieorchester and conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste for a recording of both Shostakovich cello concertos. Gerhardt returned in 2023 with Phantasy in Blue, an album of transcriptions for cello and saxophone quartet drawn from works by Gershwin, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, and others. By that point his discography exceeded thirty titles.
