Kian Soltani (; born 3 June 1992) is an Austrian-Iranian cellist, born in

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

to a family of Iranian musicians. He has held the post of principal cellist in

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, where he came to prominence performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto on the orchestra's 2015 tour. He began playing the cello at the age of four and, at age 12 he began his studies with

Ivan Monighetti Ivan Monighetti is a Russian cellist and conductor of Swiss descent. Biography Ivan Monighetti, described by Krzysztof Penderecki as a “phenomenal cellist” was Mstislav Rostropovich's last student at the Moscow Conservatory.As a sought-after ...

Basel Music Academy The City of Basel Music Academy () is an institution for music education, located in Basel, Switzerland. It comprises a music school, college of music, and a center for early music research and performance. History The origins of the City of Base ...

. He completed his studies as a member of the Young Soloist Programme at the

Kronberg Academy The Kronberg Academy is a Private university, private music school for string instrumentalists based in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany. Founded in 1993 by Raimund Trenkler, the academy trains a select group of young musicians who have the potential ...

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

, Germany, and the International Music Academy in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. He is currently artist in residence at the

Residentie Orchestra Het Residentie Orkest (; known also in English as ''Residentie Orkest The Hague'') is a Dutch orchestra based in The Hague. The orchestra is currently resident at the Amare performing arts centre in The Hague. History Henri Viotta founded the orch ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

for the 2018–2019 season.

Awards and competitions

Soltani was awarded the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...

's 2017 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award and the

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival The Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF) is a classical music festival held each summer throughout the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986 by German concert pianist and conductor Justus Fr ...

's 2017

Leonard Bernstein Award The Leonard Bernstein Award is a German music award endowed with 10,000 euros. Since 2002, the award has been sponsored by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. The prize is awarded to talented classical musi ...

. He received the Luitpold Prize (German: ''Luitpoldpreis'') of the Festival

Kissinger Sommer The Kissinger Sommer is a classical music festival held every year in the summer in the city of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Southern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986. At the beginning the focus of the festival was on the improvem ...

in 2014. In 2013, he won the first prize at the Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki, Finland. He has also won the first prize in the Karl Davidoff International Cello Competition in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and the International Cello Competition 'Antonio Janigro' in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, and became a member of the

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Foundation in 2014.

Recordings

Kian Soltani signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics in 2017. His debut album ''Home'' was released in February 2018, and pairs works by

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

with folk song settings by

Reza Vali Reza Vali () is an Iranian musician and composer. Life and education Vali was born in Qazvin in 1952 and studied at the Tehran Conservatory. In 1972, he attended the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he studied. He later a ...

and Soltani himself. *

References

External links

*
Kian Soltani on the Intermusica website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soltani, Kian 1992 births Living people Deutsche Grammophon artists Austrian classical cellists People from Bregenz Austrian people of Iranian descent 21st-century Austrian musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century male musicians 21st-century cellists