Leonard Elschenbroich
Cello and conductor
Leonard Elschenbroich (Frankfurt, 1985) was ten years old when he received a scholarship to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. We went on to study with Frans Helmerson at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.
Elschenbroich received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the opening of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival 2009, following his performance of Brahms’ Double Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. He has since been praised as one of the most charismatic cellists of his generation.
Elschenbroich has commissioned works by composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage, Luca Lombardi, Arlene Sierra, and Suzanne Farrin. At the Proms in London, he gave the world premiere of Mark Simpson’s Cello Concerto, which was composed specially for him. Elschenbroich also gave the world premiere of Willem Jeths’ second Cello Concerto at the Cello Biënnale in 2022.
In 2012, he co-founded the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bolivia, the first orchestra to perform a Mahler symphony in the country’s history. Elschenbroich regularly returns to Bolivia to lead educational projects and develop orchestras. This led Elschenbroich to start exploring conducting with various orchestras; for example, the Residentie Orchestra in 2021, which premiered a new cello concerto by Joël Bons under his baton, with Lidy Blijdorp as soloist.
Leonard Elschenbroich plays the Matteo Goffriller 'Ex-Leonard Rose-Ex-Alfredo Piatti' cello (Venice, 1693), on private loan.