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MEET THE PROS | Johannes Moser | VC 20 Questions
Trio with Yevgeny Sudbin and Vadim Gluzman
Dutilleux Tout un Monde lointain
Johannes Moser on Outreach Activity
Johannes Moser in residency
Klengel Hymnus with Johannes Moser x12
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Pentatone Artist of the Season: A Portrait
Johannes Moser & Andrei Korobeinikov: Rachmaninov & Prokofiev for Cello and Piano
Schumann: Cello Concerto / Moser, Mehta, Berliner Philharmoniker

“one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.”

Gramophone

“Leading up to the concert, I’d been listening to Moser’s own recording of the work — but seeing him perform it live was a whole other experience. His technique was superb, and he was exceptionally tuned in to the sections of the orchestra, but more than that, Moser (who lives in Germany) used his body in a way that amplified the work’s conflict. The whole performance was theatrical, the audience occasionally laughing not out of nervousness, but because some of it really was funny.”

San Francisco Classical Voice

“Moser’s tone is beautiful, and he was richly ­expressive in the sublimely sad slow ­movement.”

Los Angeles Times

“Melodic ­fragments were subtly shaded with ­minute ­variations of dynamics and tonal ­color. ­Moser ­deliberately paced the long cadenza, ­assaying the difficult leaps of register with total ­accuracy while allowing the music to speak ­directly in an ­unforced manner. By contrast the finale was taken at a ­lightning clip. Beneath the brilliance and verve of Moser’s playing, there was always expressive depth.”

Miami Herald

“His tone was big and warm where needed, and he proved himself capable of some Rostropovich-like wild abandon…he was consistently eloquent.”

The Telegraph

“…Moser…played Shostakovich’s motivic train wreck as a nervous breakdown so massive that this excellent cellist seemed to have his own ­nanosecond collapse…Moser’s recent recording of the concerto was no preparation for his ­fearlessly manic intensity on Thursday. He maintained much control, to judge from his smartly varied vibrato, but tossed aside ­typical coloristic effects for the most visceral expression ­possible.”

Philadelphia Inquirer

­“Then there were the bravura flourishes of the strapping and exuberant German-­Canadian ­cellist Johannes Moser…who threw himself bodily into a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello
Concerto No. 1… Mr. Moser’s (performance) fought ­everyone on equal terms, and he brought the house down.”

The New York Times

“Johannes Moser gave a superb recital Friday night…It helps that he has a brilliant ­technique, a darkly rich tone, and a deeply felt musicianship. But Moser adds an expressive face and body language that adds flavor to his visual appeal. He’s fun to watch.”

The Daily Gazette

“The cellist’s tonal warmth and wide dynamic palette, the grace of his phrasing and the elegance and accuracy with which he dispatched Haydn’s spirited finale (at top speed) were much to be admired, as was the crisp intimacy of Nott’s chamber-orchestra ­accompaniment. We really need to hear more of Moser at the CSO.”

Chicago Tribune

“Moser was superb; his up-front, extroverted playing style was perfect. His solos were perfectly balanced with the orchestra, which handled its complex part deftly under Chauhan’s baton.”

EarRelevant

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists”, German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, BBC Philharmonic at the Proms, London Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Tokyo NHK Symphony, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras with conductors of the highest level including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Jarvi, Semyon Bychkov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Gustavo Dudamel.

His recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar, Lutosławski, Dutilleux, Tchaikovsky, Thomas Olesen and Fabrice Bollon (Electric Cello), which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d’Or. In 2022, Johannes Moser released a highly innovative new album on the Platoon label featuring six new commissions for electric cello, alongside multi-layered arrangements of works for cello ensemble utilizing DOLBY ATMOS’ revolutionary new audio technology for which The Strad commented, “…there’s no questioning Moser’s ambition, nor the sheer sense of verve with which he pulls it all off…” Alone Together is one of the first classical music albums to use multi-tracking so extensively.

Following the world premiere performance of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto, Before we fall with San Francisco Symphony (Stasevska) and its London premiere at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Ollikainen) in the 2024/25 season, upcoming highlights for Johannes include continuing the co-commissioner performances with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Ollikainen) and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Saraste). Returning as Artist in Residence with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Johannes will perform Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto (Metzmacher). Further highlights include return appearances with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Okpara), Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Bortolameolli) and Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg (Molęda), among others. In North America, Johannes performs Detlev Glanert’s Cello Concerto with the New World Symphony in Miami (Hindoyan) and returns with Thorvaldsdottir’s concerto to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Chauhan). Johannes tours in a trio with Andrei Korobeinikov and Vadim Gluzman, with performances at Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Hall, Kino Vesmír in Ostrava, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

A dedicated chamber musician, Johannes has performed with Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Jonathan Biss, James Ehnes, Vadim Gluzman, Leonidas Kavakos, Midori, Menahem Pressler and Yevgeny Sudbin. Johannes is also a regular at festivals including the Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad and Kissinger festivals, the Mehta Chamber Music Festival, and the Colorado, Seattle and Brevard music festivals.

Renowned for expanding the reach of the classical genre and for his passionate advocacy of contemporary music, Johannes has emerged as a leading voice in the commissioning of new cello works. His collaborations with today’s most innovative and prolific composers have placed him at the forefront of the international new music community. He has recently been heavily involved in commissioning works by Julia Wolfe, Ellen Reid, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Johannes Kalitzke, Jelena Firsowa, Detlev Glanert, Chris Cerrone, Annie Gosfield, and Bernd Richard Deutsch, among many more. In 2011 he premiered Magnetar for electric cello by Enrico Chapela with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, and in the following season he continued this relationship with the orchestra performing Michel van der Aa’s cello concerto Up-close. Throughout his career, Johannes has been committed to reaching out to all audiences, from kindergarten to college and beyond. He combines most of his concert engagements with masterclasses, school visits and preconcert lectures.

Born into a musical family in 1979, Johannes began studying the cello at the age of eight and became a student of Professor David Geringas in 1997. He was the top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition, in addition to being awarded the Special Prize for his interpretation of the Rococo Variations. In 2014 he was awarded with the prestigious Brahms prize.

A voracious reader of everything from Kafka to Collins, and an avid outdoorsman, Johannes Moser is a keen hiker and mountain biker in what little spare time he has.

Johannes Moser plays on an Andrea Guarneri Cello from 1694 from a private collection.

2025-2026