Adventurous Top Soloists

German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” with Boris Pergamenschikow and later with Eberhard Feltz. He is also a conductor and the Artistic Director of various festivals.  Altstaedt enjoys playing contemporary music and has performed works by composers such as Thomas Adès, Fazil Say, Jörg Widmann, Matthias Pintscher, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Helena Winkelman. New concertos have recently been composed for him by Anders Hillborg, Márton Illés, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Liza Lim. His interpretations and performances of Baroque and classical music are unparallelled; as a soloist in J.S. Bach’s solo suites as well as in collaboration with lutist Thomas Dunford and harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, and with Ensemble Arcangelo in their recording of the complete cello concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Boccherini. In 2018, Nicolas Altstaedt was the Artist in Spotlight at the Concertgebouw, and has been the Artistic Director of the Internationales Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus since 2012, succeeding Gidon Kremer. He has also been the Artistic Director and conductor of the Haydn Philharmonie since 2014.

Kian Soltani (Bregenz, Austria, 1992) was born into a family of Persian musicians and started playing the cello when he was four years old. When he was twelve years old, he was accepted into the class of Ivan Monighetti at the Musik-Akademie in Basel. In 2014, he received a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, which allowed him to continue his studies within the Young Soloist Programme at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. Kian has won various competitions: the Karl Davidoff Competition in Latvia, the Antonio Janigro Competition in Croatia, and the Paolo Competition in Finland.  In January 2018, he released his debut album under Deutsche Grammophon, where he is contracted exclusively, and in 2020 he released his album containing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In 2021, he released his album Cello Unlimited, with compositions by Hans Zimmer and himself. Kian Soltani plays the ‘London’ Stradivarius 1694 cello (ex-Boccherini), which was made available to him on loan by the J & A Beare International Violin Society.

The young Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, or jongNBE, is an ensemble consisting of young, talented musicians from Dutch concervatories – some already graduated, others still studying. The ensemble is made up of ten musicians (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, saxophone, (bass) trombone, percussion, and double bass/bass guitar) and is coached by experienced musicians from NBE.  JongNBE accompanies young composers at the showcases of the composition competition Op weg naar het Nieuwjaarsconcert (“On the way to the New Year’s Concert”) and performs programmes all over The Netherlands. JongNBE has performed at the Grachtenfestival, in ‘De Nacht van Ramses’ (“The Night of Ramses”) in the DeLaMar Theater, at ‘Vroege Vogels’ (“Early Birds”) in the Hoge Veluwe Park, at lunch concerts in the Concertgebouw, as well as on the Uitmarkt, on Radio 4’s Opium, at the Oranjewoud Festival, at the hockey World Championship, at the Cello Biënnale, and in the Holland Opera productions ‘The Day After’, ‘STYX’, and ‘Kersentuin’ at Fort Rijnauwen.

Frank van de Laar (Laren, 1965) completed his studies with Jan Wijn at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam in 1989 with the highest possible distinction. He continued his education in Hannover with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and in Amsterdam with Naum Grubert. In 1987, he won the 3d prize at the International Brahms Competition in Hamburg and in 1988, he won the first prize at the Postbank-Sweelinck Competition. He made his debut in the Grote Zaal of the Concertgebouw that same year, and numerous performances in The Netherlands and abroad followed in high tempo. He has given concerts in the United States, Asia, and almost all European countries, winning many prizes and distinctions. His repertoire spans from the entire Baroque era to contemporary music, with an interesting role for lesser known early and contemporary works. He is also an active chamber musician. His performances have been recorded by countless radio and television channels and he has released over twenty-five CDs. He is a professor at the conservatories in Amsterdam and Zwolle.