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Johannes Moser

About this Artist

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists,” German-Canadian cellist JOHANNES MOSER has performed with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, BBC Philharmonic at the Proms, London Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Tokyo NHK Symphony, Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras with conductors of the highest level, including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Jarvi, Semyon Bychkov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Gustavo Dudamel.

Johannes won his third Echo Klassik award as Instrumentalist of the Year 2017 for his Russian recital disk on the Pentatone label, for which he records exclusively. His other recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar, and Tchaikovsky, which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d’Or. His latest recording from Pentatone, featuring the Lutoslawski and Dutilleux concertos, was released in November 2018.

In the 2018/19 season, Johannes returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Wittenburg Chamber Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony. 

A dedicated chamber musician, Johannes has performed with Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, Menahem Pressler, James Ehnes, Midori, and Jonathan Biss. He is also a regular guest at festivals including the Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad, and Kissinger festivals, the Mehta Chamber Music Festival, and the Colorado, Seattle, and Brevard music festivals.

Renowned for his efforts to expand the reach of the classical genre, as well as his passionate focus on new music, Johannes has recently been heavily involved in commissioning works by Julia Wolfe, Ellen Reid, Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen, Johannes Kalitzke, Jelena Firsowa, and Andrew Norman. This past season, he took part in the European premiere of Gubaidulina’s Triple Concerto with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. In 2011, he premiered Magnetar for electric cello by Enrico Chapela with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, and in the following season he continued this relationship with the orchestra performing Michel van der Aa’s cello concerto, Up-close. Throughout his career, Johannes has been committed to reaching out to all audiences, from kindergarten to college and beyond. He combines most of his concert engagements with masterclasses, school visits, and pre-concert lectures.

Born into a musical family in 1979, Johannes began studying the cello at the age of eight and became a student of Professor David Geringas in 1997. He was the top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition, in addition to being awarded the Special Prize for his interpretation of the Rococo Variations. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Brahms prize.

A voracious reader of everything from Kafka to Collins, and an avid outdoorsman, Johannes Moser is a keen hiker and mountain biker in what little spare time he has.