Kian Soltani

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.

From a young age, Daniël Kramer received lesson from Ton Hartsuiker. He went on to study at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Håkon Austbø, where he received his Master’s degree with distinction. He also received lessons from Rudolf Jansen, Willem Brons, Murray Perahia, and Claude Helffer, among others. He won prizes at the Prinses Christina Concours in 1994,  Concorso Seghizzi in 2008, and the Concours Olivier Messiaen in Paris in 2007.  His performances as a soloist include concerts with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic conducted by Peter Eötvös, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra conducted by Werner Herbers, and the Netherlands Youth Orchestra conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. He has collaborated with various composers, such as George Benjamin, Louis Andriessen, Toshio Hosokawa, and Sofia Gubaidulina, and has premiered numerous contemporary works.  Daniël Kramer is the principal accompanist of the National Cello Competition and has given many concerts with laureates. He recently collaborated with Eline Hensels, the winner of the competition in 2018, to record a CD which was recently nominated for an Edison.

Piano