Canadian-born, Berlin-based cellist Bryan Cheng is making international waves as one of the most compelling artists of his generation, praised for both the “incredible intensity and urgency” (Tagesspiegel) and “otherworldly intimacy” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) of his playing.
Following historic successes as the only prizewinner of both the Queen Elisabeth and Geneva International Music Competitions in 40 years, he continues to distinguish himself with wholly committed interpretations and daringly original repertoire choices, earning “immense admiration…for his musical finesse and subtle sensitivity” (Le Devoir) from leading musicians, orchestras, festivals, and concert series worldwide.
In the 2025/26 season, he debuts with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Sir András Schiff), NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover (Michael Sanderling), Musikkollegium Winterthur (Michael Sanderling), Nürnberger Symphoniker (Jonathan Darlington), Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal (Patrick Hahn), Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (Robert Moody), Orchestre symphonique de Québec (Christian Kluxen).
Furthermore, he returns to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for their celebrated New Year’s concerts, Janaček Philharmonic Ostrava (Daniel Raiskin) for his Amsterdam Concertgebouw debut, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa (Teddy Abrams) in a world premiere by Samy Moussa, Johannesburg Philharmonic and Winnipeg Symphony.
Some of the orchestras Bryan appeared with in recent seasons include the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berliner Philharmonie, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfur (Frankfurt Radio Symphony), Bochumer Symphoniker, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Tampere Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Métropolitain, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of India. For these performances, he worked with celebrated conductors including Stéphane Denève, Louis Langrée, Martyn Brabbins, Susanna Mälkki, Alpesh Chauhan, Matthias Pintscher, Dalia Stasevska, Daniel Raiskin, Christian Arming, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Giordano Bellincampi, Jonathan Darlington, Joshua Weilerstein, Nil Venditti and Laurence Equilbey.
In chamber music, Bryan is the 2025/26 Musician-in-Residence of Halifax’s Cecilia Concerts, curating three wide-ranging concerts featuring his closest international collaborators. He makes his Carnegie Hall Zankel debut in a Brahms piano quartet survey with Kirill Gerstein and colleagues of the Kronberg Academy; collaborates with Karen Gomyo and friends at the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen; debuts at the Rheingau Musikfestival and Deutschlandfunk’s Raderbergkonzerte series in Cologne; returns to the Verbier Festival and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; embarks on a quintet tour with the vision string quartet; and performs extensively in North America, Europe, Colombia, and South Africa with his two established duos, Cheng² Duo and CelloFellos.
An accomplished chamber musician, Bryan performs extensively across the globe and has had the privilege of working with partners such as Gidon Kremer, Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Sir András Schiff, Angela Hewitt, Till Fellner, Viviane Hagner and Antje Weithaas.
Bryan Cheng was the first cellist to be awarded the coveted Prix Yves Paternot in recognition of the Verbier Festival Academy’s most promising and accomplished musician and is the 2023 recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize, the nation’s highest honour for young musicians.
Bryan has released a trilogy of critically-acclaimed albums on German classical label audite: Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016), and his newest recital album Portrait (2023) on Centre discs, featuring commissioned works and own arrangements by composers of diverse Asian heritage, was nominated for 2 JUNO awards.
A Bachelor’s and Master’s graduate from the Universität der Künste Berlin and now enrolled in his f inal year at Germany’s Kronberg Academy, Bryan plays the 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello generously on loan from the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank