Johannes Moser

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, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, 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.

His recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar, Lutosławski, Dutilleux, Tchaikovsky, Thomas Olesen and Fabrice Bollon (Electric Cello), which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d'Or. In 2022, Johannes Moser released a highly innovative new album on the Platoon label featuring six new commissions for electric cello, alongside multi-layered arrangements of works for cello ensemble utilising DOLBY ATMOS’ revolutionary new audio technology for which The Strad commented, …there’s no questioning Moser’s ambition, nor the sheer sense of verve with which he pulls it all off…. Alone Together is one of the first classical music albums to use multi-tracking so extensively.

In the 2024/25 season, Johannes performed the World Premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony (Stasevska), Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 in debut appearances with Detroit Symphony (Chauhan) and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Petrenko) in four performances at Sydney Opera House. Johannes will also return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Slobodeniouk) in Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto.

In Europe, Johannes performed with the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin (Poschner) in Philipp Maintz’ Cello Concerto "Upon a moment‘s shallow rim", Sinfónica de Galicia (Rakitina) in Detlev Glanert’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, in addition to with the Malmo Symphony Orchestra at Malmo Live (Gabel) in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. Johannes will also tour Belgium with the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen (Koncz) in Elgar’s Cello Concerto and feature at the Kissinger Sommer Festival with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (Bringuier) in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.

A dedicated chamber musician, Johannes has performed with Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Jonathan Biss, James Ehnes, Vadim Gluzman, Leonidas Kavakos, Midori, Menahem Pressler and Yevgeny Sudbin. Johannes is also a regular 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 Agerfeld Olesen, Johannes Kalitzke, Jelena Firsowa and Andrew Norman. 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 preconcert 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 with 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.

Johannes Moser plays on an Andrea Guarneri Cello from 1694 from a private collection.

Photo: Johannes Moser @Sarah Wijzenbeek