Maximilian Hornung has established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation in recent years. He has regularly performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Bamberger Symphoniker, under conductors such as Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézét-Séguin, Mariss Jansons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Pablo Heras-Casado, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Antonello Manacorda, John Storgårds, Michael Francis, Mario Venzago, Jonathan Nott, Kristjan Järvi, Andrew Manze, Krzysztof Urbański and Robin Ticciati. His chamber music partners have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Antje Weithaas, Hélène Grimaud, Daniil Trifonov, Christian Tetzlaff, Lisa Batiashvili, François Leleux, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Herbert Schuch, Lars Vogt, Hisako Kawamura, Jörg Widmann and Tabea Zimmermann. He has been invited to perform at the festivals in Salzburg, Schwetzingen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lucerne, Verbier, Ravinia and Hong Kong. He has appeared in concert halls such as the philharmonic halls of Berlin, Cologne and Essen, as well as the Vienna Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London’s Wigmore Hall.
Highlights of the 2021/2022 season included débuts with the Bavarian State Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Utah Symphony, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, tours with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, an extensive trio tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis in Europe, and a return to the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Florida Orchestra. He played recitals together with Herbert Schuch and Hisako Kawamura, and performed trios with Sarah Christian and Timothy Ridout. In May 2023, he will premiere a new cello concerto by American composer Katherine Balch with the Staatsorchester Darmstadt under Karsten Januschke.
Hornung’s impressive and versatile discography includes solo concerts as well as recordings with prominent chamber musicians. He received the ECHO Klassik Prize for his first album (Sony 2011) – for which he was designated as Young Artist of the Year – as well as for his recording of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Bamberger Symphoniker under the direction of Sebastian Tewinkel on the same label the following year. Further recordings under Sony have included Richard Strauss’ major cello works with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink (2014) and Haydn’s cello concertos with the Kammerakademie Potsdam under Antonello Manacorda (2015). In 2017, Deutsche Grammophon released a highly acclaimed recording of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet which Hornung recorded with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniil Trifonov, amongst others. Further recordings were released on GENUIN, Linn Records, NEOS, Bridge Records and CPO. In October 2018, myrios classics released his recording of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 2 and Sulkhan Tsintsadze’s Cello Concerto No 2 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Andris Poga.
Born 1986 in Augsburg, Hornung began taking cello lessons at the age of eight. The teachers with whom he has studied most intensely are Eldar Issakadze, Thomas Grossenbacher and David Geringas. As cellist of the Tecchler Trio in which he played until 2011, he won the First Prize of the ARD Music Competition in 2007. At the age of only 23, he became First Principal Cellist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and held this position until 2013. He has been supported and sponsored by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation and Borletti-Buitoni Trust London. Since the spring of 2022, he has been Artistic Director of the Traunsteiner Sommerkonzerte.
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