In his engaging playing, German cellist Arne-Christian Pelz combines both deeply felt emotions and a buoyant joy of music. Early successes in international competitions led to solo appearances and recitals in such renowned concert halls as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg as well as throughout Europe and to the United States.
In his engaging playing, German cellist Arne-Christian Pelz combines both deeply felt emotions and a buoyant joy of music. Early successes in international competitions led to solo appearances and recitals in such renowned concert halls as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg as well as throughout Europe and to the United States.
Born in Rostock in 1986, the promising young soloist has been accompanied multiple times by renowned orchestras such as the Hamburg Symphony, the Plauen-Zwickau Philharmonic, the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra. This season he will be the featured soloist along with Guy Braunstein (violin) and the Hamburg Symphony in Brahms' Double concerto.
After studying with Josef Schwab at the music conservatory Hanns Eisler in Berlin, he went on to complete his artist diploma under the tutelage of Peter Bruns at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy School in Leipzig. Immediately after finishing at top of his class, Mr. Pelz was granted the prestigious position as the First Principal Cellist of the Hamburg Symphony under the baton of Maestro Jeffrey Tate.
Mr. Pelz also demonstrates a special passion for music of the 20th and 21st century. Recently, he was the featured soloist with the Hamburg Symphony in Seven Last Words, for cello, bajan and string orchestra, by the renowned Sofia Gubaidulina and collaborates with premier contemporary composers such as Reinhard D. Flender, Elena Fiersova and Simon Stockhausen. In 2009 he was awarded the Ethel Shein Prize for Best Interpretation of a Work from the 20th Century at the Premio Viturio Gui Competition, Florence.
While studying baroque cello with Balázs Máté and Siegfried Pank in Leipzig, he has become a refined interpreter of ancient music. After being granted an award at the International J.S. Bach Competition in 2009, he was invited to play a recital at the Bach Festival Leipzig 2011. During the 2013-2014 concert season, he is performing all six of Bach’s Cello Suites in a series of recitals in Hamburg as well as in Cambridge, UK.
His passion for chamber music led him to found the award winning Piano Trio Leipzig in 2011 that recently made its U.S. debut thanks to an invitation of the Bach Society Houston. In summer 2013 played numerous concerts as Artist in Residence of the Pontino Festival in Sermoneta/Italy. Amongst his chamber music partners were renowned musicans such as Elisó Virsaladze, Mariana Sirbu, Rocco Filippini and Massimo Paris.
Due to the support of a generous sponsor, Arne-Christian Pelz currently plays on a 1693 Giovanni Grancino cello made in Milan.