Biography
Since 2008 Johannes Rostamo has served as principal cellist of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Beyond that post he pursues a wide range of musical activities, appearing in both Baroque repertory and experimental contemporary works, and he maintains a strong commitment to teaching.
Born Simo Ilkka Johannes Rostamo on 7 December 1980 in Vantaa, Finland, he attended Espoo Music College from 1989 to 2000, studying principally with Heikki Pekkarinen and Heikki Rautasalo. He continued his training in Stockholm and Oslo under Torleif Thedéen, Truls Mørk and Frans Helmerson, and he received a soloist diploma from the Edsberg Chamber Music Institute in Sweden during the spring of 2008. That same year he secured the principal-cello chair with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, a position he still occupies in the mid-2020s.
His first recording appeared in 2015 on the heavy-metal album Sanctified by The Grim. He belongs to the contemporary chamber ensemble Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble, with whom he issued his classical debut disc, A Moveable Feast, in 2016. Additional Baroque-cello studies took place with Emmanuel Balssa, Bruno Cocset and Gaetano Nasillo; he now serves as artistic leader of Orfeus Barock Stockholm. Among his distinctive solo ventures is CelloCelloCello, a program that traces the instrument’s development from the Baroque era to the present.
Rostamo has also appeared as guest principal cellist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In 2019 he and Orfeus Barock released a recording of works by C.P.E. Bach and J.S. Bach on the Alba label. He returned in 2022 on the BIS label with Doppio Espressivo: Double Concertos for Bass Instruments, and the following year he participated in the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic’s recording of Jacob Mühlrad’s REMS (“Rapid Eye Movement Sleep”).
Born Simo Ilkka Johannes Rostamo on 7 December 1980 in Vantaa, Finland, he attended Espoo Music College from 1989 to 2000, studying principally with Heikki Pekkarinen and Heikki Rautasalo. He continued his training in Stockholm and Oslo under Torleif Thedéen, Truls Mørk and Frans Helmerson, and he received a soloist diploma from the Edsberg Chamber Music Institute in Sweden during the spring of 2008. That same year he secured the principal-cello chair with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, a position he still occupies in the mid-2020s.
His first recording appeared in 2015 on the heavy-metal album Sanctified by The Grim. He belongs to the contemporary chamber ensemble Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble, with whom he issued his classical debut disc, A Moveable Feast, in 2016. Additional Baroque-cello studies took place with Emmanuel Balssa, Bruno Cocset and Gaetano Nasillo; he now serves as artistic leader of Orfeus Barock Stockholm. Among his distinctive solo ventures is CelloCelloCello, a program that traces the instrument’s development from the Baroque era to the present.
Rostamo has also appeared as guest principal cellist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In 2019 he and Orfeus Barock released a recording of works by C.P.E. Bach and J.S. Bach on the Alba label. He returned in 2022 on the BIS label with Doppio Espressivo: Double Concertos for Bass Instruments, and the following year he participated in the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic’s recording of Jacob Mühlrad’s REMS (“Rapid Eye Movement Sleep”).
Albums
