Nicolas Altstaedt

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.

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