When Kian Soltani plays music, doors to other worlds are flung open: Individuality, depth of expression and a charismatic stage presence distinguish the young cellist. These features make Kian Soltani one of the most exciting musicians of his generation.

His debut performances at the Vienna Musikverein and the Schubertiade Hohenems, and especially his success in winning the “International Paulo Cello Competition” in Helsinki have drawn the world’s attention to Kian Soltani.

In summer 2015, Kian Soltani was a soloist in Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto”, together with Daniel Barenboim, Guy Braunstein and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Waldbühne in Berlin, the Salzburg and Lucerne festivals, the BBC Proms in London and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

Highlights of his 2017/2018 season were performances at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Paris Philharmonic, the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the “Prinzregententheater” in Munich, the Oslo Concert Hall and the Schubertiade Hohenems, as well as concert performances at the Salzburg, Verbier, Lucerne and Aix-en-Provence festivals. In 2017, together with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, he embarked on a worldwide tour with Richard Strauss’ “Don Quixote”. His Deutsche Grammophon debut album, “Home”, was released in February 2018.

Kian Soltani was born in Bregenz in 1992 into a Persian family of musicians. He began to play the cello at the age of four, and was accepted into Ivan Monighetti’s class at the Hochschule für Musik Basel at the age of just twelve. In 2014, he became a scholarship-holder of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, and completed his studies in the “Young Soloists” programme of the Kronberg Academy. He was able to gather important musical experience at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein.

Kian Soltani plays the “London” Stradivari cello from 1694, on loan to him from J & A Beare’s International Violin Society.

June 2018