Never Give Up

Maximilian Hornung (Augsburg, 1986) received his first cello lesson at the age of eight. He studied with Eldar Issakadze, Thomas Grossenbacher, David Geringas, and others. Until 2011, he was a member of the Tecchler Trio, with which he won the First Prize at the ARD Music Competition. He was only 23 years old when he was appointed first principal cellist of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.  He has recorded several albums with Sony. His first album, recorded in 2011, immediately received the ECHO Klassik Prize and in 2012, he won the same prize for his recording of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. In 2017, Deutsche Grammophon released a recording of Schubert’s Forellenkwintet, on which Maximilian Hornung collaborates with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniil Trifonov, among others. His beautiful arrangement of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto for cello quintet can be found on YouTube, and it’s this arrangement he performed at the Top Cellists Series at the kick-off of the Biënnale. Hornung is a professor at the Munich Conservatory.

Alexander Warenberg (1998) started playing the cello when he was 5 years old. From age eight, he received lessons from Monique Bartels. From 2016 to 2019, Alexander studied with Frans Helmerson at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, after which he continued his studies with the same professor at the Kronberg Academy. He is currently studying at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium with Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling. Alexander has won the first prize at the Britten Cello Competition and the national competition of the Stichting Jong Muziektalent Nederland (‘Dutch Foundation for Young Musical Talent’). In 2016, he won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the National Cello Competition. He also won the first prize at the international Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in Croatia. In 2019, Alexander Warenberg released his first album ‘Sonatas’ under the label TRPTK, with music by Shostakovich and Rachmaninov. In 2021, Alexander was the recipient of the Grachtenfestival Prize. Alexander plays an Alessandro D’Espine cello, previously owned by Paul Tortelier, on loan from a member of the Stretton Foundation.