Sebastian Hess (✝)

Born in Munich in 1971, the cellist Sebastian Hess studied at the music academies in Würzburg and Munich with Julius Berger and Helmar Steihler, before studying musicology at Munich University. From 1990 to 1994 he was among the pupils of William Pleeth in London and in 1997 he was one of the few pupils of Mstislav Rostropovich.

His musical activities cover a wide variety of styles, ranging from historical performance practice and classical-romantic repertoire up to his work together with modern composers such as Moritz Eggert, Jörg Widmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Rodion Shchedrin, Mikis Theodorakis and Hans Werner Henze.

Since his acclaimed solo debut at the South Bank Centre in London he has performed at has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein-Festival, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Kissinger Sommer, the Ansbach Bach Week, the European Music Festival Stuttgart, in Seoul, in Lisbon, at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival, the Ruhrtriennale etc. He also played as a soloist with orchestras such as the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra or the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin.

Sebastian Hess has also been active in numerous radio broadcasts and recordings and has been awarded numerous awards, including the music prize by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), a scholarship by the German National Academic Foundation, and the music prize of the Bayerischen Staatsregierung.

Next to his engagements as a cellist, Sebastian Hess has also been active as a composer, as well as becoming increasingly involved in the production and programming of concerts. Besides giving numerous Masterclasses, Sebastian Hess teaches at the University of Music and Drama and the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich.