Since his success at the opening concert of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival where he performed the Brahms Double Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter under Christoph Eschenbach and received the Leonard Bernstein Award, 24 year old cellist Leonard Elschenbroich has been widely regarded as one of the most important and original German cellists of his generation.

In recent years, the winner of the Borlettti-Buitoni-Trust and long time protégé of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation has caught the attention of today"s greatest international conductors.

Subsequent invitations to orchestral Debuts included: Valery Gergiev for the Basel Symphony, Semyon Bychkov with the WDR Symphony and Manfred Honeck with the Swedish Radio Symphony, Christoph Eschenbach with the Staatskapelle Dresden, as well as personal invitations from Dmitri Kitajenko, Howard Griffiths and Fabio Luisi. A passionate chamber musician, he performed with Katia & Marielle Labéque at the Verbier Festival, Helene Grimaud and Renaud Capucon at the Chambery Festival and with Gidon Kremer at the Lockenhaus Festival, where also appeared as a soloist with the Kremerata Baltica.

"Leonard has an extraordinary and unique gift: His musical sensitivity, combined with courageous virtuosity are truly impressive and his radiant expressive personality is deeply convincing." Anne-Sophie Mutter

'œDepth, expressivity, charisma, perfection. His playing is the ideal every artist searches for.' Christoph Eschenbach

He has given recent debuts with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, Bremen Philharmonic and Munich Symphony orchestras, as well as the Brahms Double Concerto with Nicola Benedetti and the ULSO in Hong Kong. In recital Leonard has performed with pianists including Anna Vinnitskaya, Martin Helmchen and Polina Leschenko in 18 European countries, amongst them at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Wigmore Hall, Auditoire du Louvre and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. For the concert series 'œNew Masters on Tour' he performed in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Bratislava, Prague, Tallinn and Helsinki.

Leonard Elschenbroich  Copyright © Felix Broede

This Summer Leonard will give his American Debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, and will perform the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Christoph Eschenbach at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival. Other upcoming highlights include his debut at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Sala São Paulo in Brasil, as well as further concerto debuts at the Kölner Philharmonie, Laieszhalle Hamburg, Tonhalle-Düsseldorf and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Leonard has made his debut recording featuring works by Alfred Schnittke and an homage composition of his own to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death. He received honorary awards from the Kronberg Academy, the Pro Europa Society, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Verbier Festival.

Born 1985 in Frankfurt, Leonard was invited to the Yehudi Menuhin School in London at the age of 10 and gave over a hundred concerts in England, amongst them at the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Wigmore Hall. He currently holds a Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Leonard plays a cello by Matteo Goffriller 'œLeonard Rose', Venice 1693, on private loan.