Aurélien Pascal

With an exceptional display of dazzling virtuosity and captivating musicianship, AURÉLIEN PASCAL (b. 1994) confirms that the future of music is in good hands. Winner of numerous prestigious international competitions, the French cellist’s remarkable talent has earned him major distinctions such as Second Prize at the Paulo International Cello Competition in Helsinki (2013); the Audience Grand Prize and the Prize for Best Performance of Ernst Toch’s Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra at the Emanuel Feuermann Competition (2014); and Fourth Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2017), where he was also named the youngest finalist in the history of the competition. In 2013, he was honored as an Adami Révélation Classique, and in 2023 he was named “Instrumentalist Discovery of the Year” at the prestigious Victoires de la Musique Classique awards. Aurélien Pascal collaborates with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestre de Paris; the Philharmonic Orchestras of Monte Carlo, Helsinki, Brussels, Hangzhou, Kansai, and Buenos Aires; the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra; the National Symphony Orchestra of Taipei; the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra; the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra; and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Potsdam Chamber Academy, and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has performed under the baton of distinguished conductors such as Christoph Poppen, András Schiff, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Okko Kamu, Lawrence Foster, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Clemens Schuldt, Corinna Niemeyer, Gilbert Varga, Emil Tabakov, Markus Bosch, and others. As a chamber musician, he has shared the stage with distinguished artists such as Alexander Kantorov, Liya Petrova, Renaud Capuçon, András Schiff, Augustin Dumay, Tabea Zimmermann, Pavel Kolesnikov, Clara-Jumi Kang, and Emmanuel Pahud, as well as ensembles including the Modigliani Quartet, the Hermes Quartet, and the Arnold Trio. In 2025, he will join Gautier Capuçon in the Capucelli Project, a program for seven cellos led by Capuçon, with performances in France, London, and Taiwan. He has been invited to many renowned European festivals, among them La Roque d’Anthéron (Evian), the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, La Chaise-Dieu, the Beethovenfest Bonn, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Pianopolis in Angers, the International Music Festival in Marvão, and Les Rencontres Musicales in Nîmes and Calenzana. He has also appeared at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, where he received the Audience Prize in 2015, as well as at festivals in Verbier, Tokyo, and Warsaw. Aurélien Pascal has built an extensive discography. In 2016, he recorded Franz Danzi’s Cello Concerto with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Howard Griffiths for Sony Classical. Reviews praised his artistry: “naturally beautiful playing” and “flawless interpretation, both musically and technically” (Pizzicato); “unique virtuosity and intuitive musicality” (The Strad). His recording of Zoltán Kodály’s Cello Sonata, released by La Musica, received two major awards in 2019 – Choc Classica and Diapason Découverte. He has also recorded for labels including Alpha Classics/Onyx, performing works by Brahms, Schubert, Ravel, Nino Rota, and Enescu in collaboration with Augustin Dumay, Henri Demarquette, Éric Le Sage, Paloma Kouider, Svetlin Roussev, and Paul Meyer. Born into a family of musicians, Aurélien Pascal studied at the Paris Conservatoire in the class of Philippe Muller, attended masterclasses with János Starker, and continued his studies with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman at the Kronberg Academy in Germany. He performs on a French instrument – an Adolphe Gand cello from 1850.