Bonian Tian
Bonian Tian, born in China, began studying the cello at the age of five with Wang Jifu at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. In 1997, he continued his studies with Na Mula at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing before moving to Germany in 2005. There, he studied first with David Geringas at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, then at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, and as a Young Soloist at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson.
He has won numerous international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2002, the International Davidov Competition in Riga in 2006, and the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest in 2011. He was awarded second prize at the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Zagreb in 2008 and at the André Navarra International Cello Competition in Toulouse in 2011.
Bonian Tian regularly performs at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and the Rheingau Music Festival. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Latvian National Orchestra, the China Philharmonic, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and the Toulouse Symphony Orchestra. He has given cello recitals at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the Seoul Centre for Culture and Music, and in a private audience for Queen Margrethe of Denmark.
He has worked with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Christoph von Dohnányi, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Neville Marriner, Markus Stenz, Leif Segerstam, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, András Schiff, and Steven Isserlis. Since January 2010, he has been the principal cellist of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne.
Since 2012, Bonian Tian has been a cello lecturer at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Since 2015, he has also served as a guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. He plays a cello custom-made for him by Patrick Robin of Angers, France.