Julian Steckel is widely praised as one of the leading cellists of our time. In 2010, Julian Steckel won the First Prize of  the  prestigious ARD International Music Competition, also winning the Audience Award, the Oehms Classic Award and the prize of the Münchner Kammerorchester. Julian had also won prizes at the Grand Prix Rostropovich in Paris, the Grand Prix Feuermann in Berlin and Kronberg Pablo Casals’ Competition. In 2012, Julian Steckel was awarded the much coveted ECHO Klassik Award for his recording of the Korngold and Goldschmidt cello concertos with  Bloch’s Schelomo (on AVI music) with the Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz under Daniel Raiskin.

Today, Julian Steckel receives worldwide critical acclaim for his masterful, authentic interpretations, regularly performing with leading orchestras including the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks , Gewandhaus Orchester, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian State Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica and Camerata Bern playing with such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Christian Zacharias, Gustavo Gimeno, Sir Roger Norrington, Jakub Hrusa, Christopher Hogwood, Fabien Gabel, Mario Venzago, Kazuki Yamada, Heinrich Schiff, Andrey Boreyko, John Storgårds, Antony Hermus, Daniel Raiskin, Andrew Litton, Lan Shui or Michael Sanderling.

In the 2918/19 Julian Steckel makes his US-debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Louisiana Philharmonic. He returns to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Konzerthaus Vienna and can also be heard on tour in Antwerpen, Bern, Bilbao, Beirut, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Schloss Elmau and his home town of Pirmasens.

In addition to his work as a soloist, Julian Steckel is a passionate chamber musician playing with musicians like Janine Jansen, Christian Tetzlaff, Elena Bashkirova, Antje Weithaas, Veronika Eberle, Vilde Frang, Karen Gomyo, Gustav Rivinius, Menahem Pressler, Lars Vogt Denis Kozhukhin, Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Eric Le Sage, the Modigliani, Armida and Ébène quartets.

Julian is a regular guest of major festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, Jerusalem Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festivals, Beethovenfest Bonn, and the festivals of Ludwigsburg, Lockenhaus, Moritzburg, Schwetzingen, and venues like the Elbphilharmonie, Baden Baden Festspielhaus, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Antwerp’s de Singel, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

Together with his long-time partner Paul Rivinius, Julian Steckel has released a number of recordings to much critical acclaim. His latest CD of all C.P.E. Bach cello concertos together with the Stuttgarter Kammer Orchester has been released in March 2016.

Julian Steckel studied with Ulrich Voss, Gustav Rivinius, Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff and Antje Weithaas. He is a professor of cello at Munich University of Music and Performing Arts. He plays an Urs W. Mächler cello (2005), and lives in Berlin.