Maximilian Hornung

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra debut of cellist Maximilian Hornung on Friday night added another element of surprise to Strauss’ work [‘Don Quixote’]: His performance seemed to take stock of all this textured material and rise above it all, producing a breath with each statement. (...) Mr. Hornung’s clear-eyed interpretation capably sifted through Strauss’ dense musical material, his tone direct yet warm. Like an able guide navigating through an undiscovered forest, he commanded the pace of the work…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Maximilian Hornung has established himself as one of the leading cellists in recent years. His playing is characterised by great naturalness, paired with technical mastery and an enormously versatile, powerful and unique tone, which he always puts at the service of the music. His ability to connect with the audience on a deeply emotional level and his charismatic presence make him stand out. In addition to the much-performed core repertoire such as Dvorak, Elgar and Schumann, he also regularly devotes himself with great curiosity to the lesser-known cello masterpieces.

As a soloist, he has performed with such renowned orchestras as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre National de France, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, the Czech Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézét-Séguin, Paavo Järvi, Marie Jacquot, Mariss Jansons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Pablo Heras-Casado, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Antonello Manacorda, John Storgårds Michael Francis, Krzysztof Urbański and Robin Ticciati. His chamber music partners include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vilde Frang, Denis Kozukhin, Julia Fischer, Antje Weithaas, Hélène Grimaud, Daniil Trifonov, Hisako Kawamura, Christian Tetzlaff, Lisa Batiashvili, François Leleux, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman und Herbert Schuch. He has been invited to numerous festivals, including Schwetzingen, the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lucerne, Verbier, Lockenhaus, Ravinia and Hong Kong. He is a regular guest at venues such as the Berlin, Cologne and Essen Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London's Wigmore Hall. In recent years, he has also made a name for himself as a soloist and conductor and regularly conducts projects, most recently with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana..

In the 2024/25 season, Maximilian Hornung will make his debuts with the Bergen and Tampere Philharmonic as well as the Essener Philharmoniker, will once again appear with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and will be artist-in-residence of the Munich Symphony Orchestra as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor in and around Munich. He continues to perform in play-conduct projects with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra. His chamber music appearances include the Rheingau Music Festival, Incontri in Terra di Siena and the Chamber Music Festival Taipei, as well as with Vilde Frang and Denis Kozukhin at London's Wigmore Hall.

His versatile discography is impressive and includes solo concerts as well as recordings with prominent chamber musicians. He received the ECHO Klassik Prize for his first album (Sony 2011) – for which he was designated as Young Artist of the Year – as well as for his recording of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Bamberg Symphony under the direction of Sebastian Tewinkel the following year (Sony 2012). Further recordings have included Richard Strauss’ major cello works with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink (Sony 2014) and Joseph Haydn’s cello concertos with the Kammerakademie Potsdam under Antonello Manacorda (Sony 2015). In 2017, Deutsche Grammophon released a highly acclaimed recording of Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniil Trifonov, amongst others. Further recordings were released on Genuin, Linn Records, NEOS, Bridge Records, and CPO. In 2018, myrios classics released his recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 and Sulkhan Tsintsadze’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Andris Poga.

Maximilian Hornung, born 1986 in Augsburg, began taking cello lessons at the age of eight. The teachers with whom he has studied most intensely are Eldar Issakadze, Thomas Grossenbacher, and David Geringas. As cellist of the Tecchler Trio, in which he played until 2011, he won the First Prize of the ARD Music Competition in 2007. At the age of only 23, he became first principal cellist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and held this position until 2013. Maximilian Hornung has been supported and sponsored by his mentor Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in London. Since the spring of 2022, he has been Artistic Director of the Traunsteiner Sommerkonzerte.

Season 2024/25

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