Closing Concert of Prof. David Geringas’ International Cello Master Class

Cellist and conductor David Geringas, born in Vilnius, Lithuania, is among today’s musical elite. An unusually broad repertoire, ranging from the earliest Baroque to contemporary music, testifies to the artist’s flexibility and curiosity. His intellectual rigor, stylistic versatility, melodic sensibility, and sensuality of sound have earned him accolades around the world.

A student of Rostropovich and winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition (1970), he can now look back on a career spanning decades.

David Geringas has performed worldwide with many leading orchestras and the greatest conductors of our time. His discography, comprising nearly 100 CDs, features numerous recordings that have been honored with prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of Luigi Boccherini’s 12 Cello Concertos, the Diapason d’Or d’Année for chamber music by Henri Dutilleux, and the Annual Award of the German Record Critics for his recording of the cello concertos by Hans Pfitzner, as well as the Annual Award of the German Record Critics for the recording of Alfred Schnittke’s works for cello and piano.

David Geringas was awarded the “Echo Klassik” in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, he received the award for the best chamber music recording of the 20th/21st century (Braunfels/Strauss, Profil Edition Günter Hänssler) and in 2014 for the best chamber music recording of the 19th century (“Pohádka,” C2 Hamburg/ES DUR). David Geringas was a professor at the conservatories in Hamburg (1977–1986), Lübeck (1980–2000), and at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin (2000–2009).

For many decades, he led a globally acclaimed cello class that produced cello stars such as Gustav Rivinius, Jens Peter Maintz, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Monika Leskovar, Tatjana Vassilieva, Jing Zhao, Johannes Moser, Maximilian Hornung, and Sol Gabetta. For his global commitment to Lithuanian music and its composers, David Geringas has received his country’s highest honors.

For his overall achievements as a musician and ambassador for Germany as a cultural nation on the international music scene and throughout the world, he was awarded the Cross of Merit, First Class, of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In October 2011, David Geringas was honored by the “Gunter and Juliane Ribke Foundation Hamburg” for his outstanding achievements in music education. David Geringas is an honorary professor at the Moscow Conservatory and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, as well as an honorary doctor of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater.

The Geringas Chamber Orchestra was founded in Berlin in 2016 to mark the 70th birthday of the legendary cellist and conductor David Geringas. The idea behind it was to offer young and talented musicians the opportunity to perform with the orchestra under the direction of David Geringas. The idea was enthusiastically supported by musicians from Berlin orchestras, renowned chamber musicians, and international prize winners. The first CD and DVD recording took place in 2020.

The chamber orchestra made its grand debut at the Elbphilharmonie in 2021. During the 2021–2022 season, more than 20 concerts took place across Europe. The ensemble performed at the Palace of Music and Congress in Strasbourg and at the Alsace-Moselle Memorial in Schirmeck. Future concert tours will take the orchestra to Japan, China, and South Korea. Concert series are held in Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig. Lithuanian composer Donatas Prusevičius dedicated “Hommage à Beethoven” to the ensemble, which premiered at the Usedom Music Festival in 2021. The orchestra’s founder and director, David Geringas, regularly appears on stages both domestically and abroad, often in a dual role as cellist and conductor.

In addition to the major music centers of Western and Eastern Europe (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Vienna Musikverein, Tonhalle Zurich, Berlin Philharmonie, among others), invitations have also taken him to Asia and the United States.

From 2005 to 2008, he served as “Chief Guest Conductor” of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra in Japan. In 2007, conductor David Geringas made his debut with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra. In February 2009, he made his conducting debut with the Moscow Philharmonic in Moscow, and in 2015 with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in St. Petersburg. His opera debut took place in 2010 with Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” in Klaipėda, Lithuania. In 2015, David Geringas made his successful debut in Vilnius as musical director and conductor of the ballet “Egle, the Snake Queen” by Eduardas Balsys. Since 1997, David Geringas has been a regular guest conductor of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, with which he has successfully toured Italy, France, Spain, Finland, Costa Rica, and China.