Closing Concert of Prof. Tatjana Vassiljeva’s International Cello Master Class

Tatjana Vassiljeva was born in Novosibirsk (Russia) and began studying the cello at the age of six. After winning second prize at the International ARD Music Competition in Munich in 1994, she moved there to study at the Academy of Music under Walter Nothas. After graduating with honors, Tatjana Vassiljeva went to the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin to continue her studies with David Geringas.

The musical “phenomenon” Tatjana Vassiljeva is distinguished by her perfect technique and incredible sonority. Tatjana Vassiljeva’s unique virtuosity is surpassed only by her musical personality and her ideas, which she is able to express wonderfully. Her innate musical curiosity is reflected in her wide-ranging repertoire, which spans from Baroque to contemporary music and includes several world premieres.

Tatjana Vassiljeva began her European concert career at the age of twelve. In October 2001, she won the “First Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris” at the 7th International Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and in 2005 she was honored as “International Newcomer of the Year” at the French “Victoires de la Musique Classique.” This laid the foundation for her international career. Since then, Tatjana has earned an excellent reputation as one of the leading cellists of our time.

She performs regularly with leading orchestras, including, for example, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de Paris, the Munich Philharmonic, the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

In doing so, she has collaborated with many outstanding conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Herbert Blomstedt, Yuri Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev, David Zinman, Daniele Gatti, Tugan Sokhiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Dmitri Kitayenko, Mikhail Yurovsky, Jiri Kout, Sakari Oramo, Christoph Eschenbach, Bertrand de Billy, and Vassily Sinaisky.

Highlights of her collaboration with Mstislav Rostropovich included a tour of Spain, concerts in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as a concert series marking Dmitri Shostakovich’s anniversary at the Salle Pleyel and the Philharmonie Luxembourg with the Orchestre de Paris in October 2006. The following year, Tatjana Vassiljeva performed at the memorial concert for the great maestro.

The cellist also enjoyed a close collaboration with Krzysztof Penderecki. Tatjana Vassiljeva performed the world premiere of the revised version of the Largo under the composer’s baton and toured Spain with him in 2009. Tatjana Vassiljeva has performed Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso on several occasions, and in 2008 she recorded his Second Cello Concerto.

As a chamber musician, Tatjana Vassiljeva performs at international festivals, including those in Lockenhaus, Kronberg, Verbier, Colmar, on Elba, at the Rencontres de musique de chambre in Chambery and La Grange de Meslay, and at the Folles Journées in Nantes, Warsaw, and Tokyo. There she performed with, among others, Viktor Tretiakov, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Maxim Vengerov, Baiba Skride, Sayaka Shoji, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Plamena Mangova, Antoine Tamestit, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, and Paul Badura-Skoda. In 2005, she performed Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano with the latter.

Together with soloists from the Berlin Philharmonic, she founded the Philharmonic String Quintet, with which she regularly performs in chamber music concerts across Europe and Asia.

Her solo CD featuring works by contemporary composers (Shchedrin, Dutilleux, Saariaho, Schnittke, Stroppa, and Penderecki) was awarded the “Diapason d’Or of the Year.” This was followed by another recording featuring works by Franck, Schubert, and Stravinsky. In particular, her solo CD (Kodály, Ysaÿe, Tcherpnin, Cassado) overwhelmed music critics, who dubbed Tatjana Vassiljeva the “New Diva of the Cello.” In addition, she released a critically acclaimed CD of Bach’s six cello suites on MIRARE in February 2009. Also on MIRARE, her CD recorded with Jean-Frédéric Neuburger featuring the sonatas for cello and piano by Chopin and Alkan was released in January 2010. Her recording of Penderecki’s Second Cello Concerto, released in September 2011 with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Antoni Wit, won the prize in the Contemporary Music category at the 2012 International Classical Music Awards. With the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie under the baton of Augustin Dumay, she performed Haydn’s Cello Concertos Nos. 1 and 2.

Since 2014, Tatjana Vassiljeva has been Principal Cellist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, and since 2023, she has been a professor at the Karlsruhe University of Music.