Benedict Kloeckner
cello
“The sensitive cellist with slender hands amazed his listeners not only with perfect intonation but also by the fabulous effortlessness and grace of his playing” - Neue Züricher Zeitung
Benedict Kloeckner, born in 1989, is a prizewinner of international competitions such as the European Broadcasting Union Award in Bratislava, the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann cello competition in Berlin, the Animato International Soloist Competition in Zurich and the Nicolas Firmenich Prize of the Verbier Festival (CH). Furthermore he received the European Culture Prize awarded by the European Culture Foundation.
Kloeckner has performed as a soloist with orchestras worldwide including the German Radio, NDR Radio Symphony, German State and Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Kremerata Baltica Slovakian Radio Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestras of Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague under the baton of Michael Sanderling, Howard Griffiths, Heinrich Schiff, Simon Gaudenz and Karl Heinz Steffens. He has appeared at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Tonhalle Zurich, Laeizhalle Hamburg, Mozarteum Salzburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rudolfinum Prag and Seoul Arts Center. He has played chamber music with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Gidon Kremer, Christoph Eschenbach, Antoine Tamestit and András Schiff and is regularly invited to renowned music festivals such as Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Ludwigsburg, Schwetzingen, Gstaad and Mecklenburg Vorpommern.
During the 2014/15 season, he performed in Washington DC (Kennedy Center), Chicago (Symphony Hall), New York (Carnegie Hall), Toronto, London (Barbican Hall), Prague (Rudolfinum), Munich (Gasteig), Paris, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro and several concerts at Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Benedict Kloeckner regularly collaborates with contemporary composers, including Wolfgang Rihm, (whose Cello Concerto Temptation he performed in Munich) as well as Howard Blake, who composed a cello sonata for him. In celebration of his 75th birthday, Howard Blake invited Kloeckner to record his entire repertoire for cello and piano, with himself, for Genuin in cooperation with the SWR. This followed a highly acclaimed recording for the label, of the Schumann Concerto with the German String Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Sanderling.
At the invitation of Gidon Kremer, Benedict recorded a CD of Italian Concertos by Roberto Molinelli and Gian Carlos Menotti with the Kremerata Baltica, conducted by Heinrich Schiff. With regular chamber music partner Anna Fedorova, he released a recording of Poulenc and Franck in Autumn 2015 for Piano Classics. Benedict's recording of works by Rihm, Strauss and Poulenc for Movimentos Edition was nominated for the List of the best from the prestigious evaluation Deutsche Schallplattenkritik. He has also recorded for Hänssler Classic; rare works by Spanish composers with José Gallardo.
Benedict Kloeckner has been studying with Martin Ostertag at the HfM Karlsruhe since 2002, as well as with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman within the Kronberg Academy Masters Program, graciously financed by the Angela Winkler-Scholarship, since October 2009.
He has been awarded scholarships from the German National Merit Foundation, the foundation of the State Bank of Baden-Württemberg, the Oscar und Vera Ritter Stiftung and the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
He plays an Italian cello by Francesco Rugeri (Cremona 1680), kindly on loan by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
