Martina Schucan

An infallible sense of the present and a genuine intensity – this characterises Martina Schucan’s cello playing.

At the age of 14, she was accepted into the masterclass of André Navarra at the University of Arts in Detmold in Germany. After completing her performer’s diploma, she continued her studies with Heinrich Schiff and Janos Starker. Her first prize at the “Gaspar Cassadò” Competition in Florence, together with other prizes and awards, opened her way onto the international concert scene.

Martina Schucan has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Bamberger Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and numbers Yuri Bashmet, Shlomo Mintz, Veronika Hagen, Heinz Holliger and the Carmina Quartet amongst her partners. She plays at the international festivals of Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, “Wien modern”, Witten, Montpellier, Bratislava and Beijing and participates at the chamber music festivals of Prussia Cove and Kuhmo.

Performing contemporary music is central to her artistic endeavours. Her interpretations of the concerto by Henri Dutilleux, the ‘Nomos Alpha’ by Iannis Xenakis and the solo sonata by Bernd Alois Zimmermann have become landmarks celebrated both by music specialists and the broad public.

Last season’s highlights include the performances of the 4th Bach suite for the 100th birthday of Janos Starker in Seoul (Lotte Hall) and Tokyo (Suntory Hall), and a solo concert for cello and electronics at the Harvard University Boston.

Martina Schucan is a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts and member of the Collegium Novum Zürich.