Following recent prize-winning successes at some of the world’s most prestigious international competitions, including Queen Elisabeth, Concours de Genève, and Paulo, Canadian-born, Berlin-based cellist Bryan Cheng has established himself as one of the most compelling young artists on the classical music scene.
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In the 2024/25 season, Bryan Cheng debuts with the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt performing Saint-Saëns´ Cello Concerto No. 1 under the direction of Erina Yashima, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Elgar´s Cello Concerto conducted by Simone Menezes, the Prague Philharmonia with Haydn´s Cello Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Oscar Jockel, the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra presenting Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto with Robert Moody, the Orchestre Métropolitain with Tchaikovsky‘s Rococo Variations under the direction of Louis Langrée, the Bochumer Symphoniker with Nil Venditti, the Orquesta Reino de Aragón under Ricardo Casero’s direction, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra Ankara, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.
Recent highlights include appearances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Helsinki Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of India, working with celebrated conductors including Stéphane Denève, Martyn Brabbins, Susanna Mälkki, Alpesh Chauhan, Matthias Pintscher, Dalia Stasevska, Daniel Raiskin, Christian Arming, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Giordano Bellincampi, Jonathan Darlington, Joshua Weilerstein and Laurence Equilbey.
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Appointed Artist-in-Residence of the “Banatul” Philharmonic Orchestra of Timisoara (Romania) in the frame of the city’s 2023/24 European Capital of Culture season, Bryan will continue his residency during the 2024/25 season, presenting several symphonic and chamber concerts.
Bryan Cheng made his sold-out Carnegie Hall recital debut at age 14, his Elbphilharmonie debut aged 20 with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and in 2022, he 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. He is the 2023 recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize, the nation’s highest honour for young musicians.
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As member of the Cheng² Duo, CelloFellos, and as chamber musician, Bryan performs extensively across the globe. He 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.
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Recital highlights include performances at the Verbier Festival, Wigmore Hall, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Heidelberger Frühling, Chamberfest Cleveland, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Banff International String Quartet Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, the National Forum of Music WrocÅ‚aw, Vancouver Recital Society, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Montréal’s Salle Bourgie.
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 Centrediscs, featuring commissioned works and own arrangements by composers of diverse Asian heritage, was nominated for 2 JUNO awards.
Bryan plays the ca. 1696 "Bonjour" Stradivari cello generously on loan from the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank, as First Laureate of their 2018 and 2023 Competitions. He is a recipient of the Deutschlandstipendium and has been supported by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation with generous multiyear scholarships. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Universität der Künste Berlin under the tutelage of Jens Peter Maintz and is now enrolled in the Professional Studies program at Germany’s Kronberg Academy in the studio of Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.