These concerts are the North Carolina Symphony debut for Alban Gerhardt.

Having launched his career with Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov in 1991, Alban Gerhardt collaborated with orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all the British and German radio orchestras, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre national de France, and Orquesta Nacional de España as well as The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras.

Highlights in the 2023/24 season include Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Marin Alsop, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln with Susanna Mälkki, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Andrew Manze, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Simone Young. Gerhardt also appears in the 2023/24 season at Aldeburgh Festival as Artist in Focus and in Duisburger Philharmoniker’s Kammerkonzerte series with the classical saxophone ensemble Alliage Quintett, as he takes up the mantle of Duisburger Philharmoniker’s Artist in Residence for the season.

A prolific recording artist, Gerhardt has received several awards for his recordings including an ECHO Klassik Award in 2008 for Reger: Cello Sonatas with pianist Markus Becker, a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2015 for his recording of Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto with Myung-whun Chung and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (for which he was also shortlisted for a Gramophone Award), and an International Classical Music Award in 2021 for Shostakovich: Cello Concertos with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

Gerhardt is passionate about sharing his discoveries with audiences far beyond the traditional concert hall, undertaking outreach projects across Europe and the United States that have involved performances and workshops not only in schools and hospitals, but also public spaces and young offender institutions.

Gerhardt plays a Matteo Gofriller cello dating from 1710.