Truls Mørk is one of the pre-eminent cellists of our time. Initially taught by his father, he continued his music studies with Frans Helmerson, Heinrich Schiff and Natalia Schakowskaya. In his early career, he won a number of international competitions such as the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition and the Naumburg Competition in New York. Renowned for combining fierce intensity, integrity and grace, Truls Mørk regularly performs with some of the world’s most distinguished orchestras, including Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the leading orchestras in North America. Conductor collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Kent Nagano and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

In autumn 2025, the Norwegian cellist opened the Dresden Philharmonic season under the baton of conductor Tabita Berglund and also gave guest performances with orchestras in Berlin, Rotterdam, Oslo, Paris, Gothenburg, Bamberg and in other major European centres of music. A great champion of contemporary music, Truls Mørk has performed in excess of 30 premieres and given first performances of numerous major cello concertos. His impressive discography includes recordings of many of the great cello concertos for leading labels such as Virgin Classics, EMI and Deutsche Grammophon, as well as interpretations of the core cello repertoire, many of which have won international awards including Grammy, Gramophone Award, Midem Classical Award and Echo Klassik.

Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has been Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this collaboration was the Beethoven cycle, acclaimed worldwide by audiences and critics alike, for which Järvi received numerous awards including the ›Echo Klassik Conductor of the Year‹ award and the prestigious annual ›German Record Critics‹’ award. Their Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Schumann and Brahms; both cycles also received numerous awards. From autumn 2021, the focus was on Joseph Haydn’s twelve London symphonies, and since 2024, an intensive exploration of Franz Schubert’s symphonies.

Järvi has been Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich since the start of the 2019/20 season. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival. From the 2028/29 season, Järvi will take up the post of Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also regularly appears as a guest conductor with leading orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In 2015, he was named ›Artist of the Year‹ by both the British magazine Gramophone and the French magazine Diapason. This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for ›Conductor of the Year‹. Other awards include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title ›Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres‹, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015, Paavo Järvi also received the Sibelius Medal in recognition of his work in bringing this Finnish composer’s music to a wider audience, and in 2012 he received the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. As a committed supporter of Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013.