Leander Kippenberg

I was born on 12th of February in 1991 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany into a family of artists: my mother, a violinist in the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and my father, a puppetier and director of his own masks and music theatre. I had my first cello lesson at the age of 9 and at the age of 15, I was privileged to join the class of Prof. Michael Sanderling at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Frankfurt / Main. One year later, I moved to Berlin to continue school at the Musik Gymnasium, Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach. During this time, I played as the principal cellist in the youth orchestra, Die Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie. I toured to Cyprus and Montenegro with Jeuness Musicale, recorded Schumann's cello concerto in the version for cello quartet with Benedict Klöckner as the soloist and Souvenier de Florence as the principal cellist. In 2009, I moved back to Frankfurt, to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts with Michael Sanderling, where I was sponsored through Freunde Junger Musiker e.V. and won a scholarship in the Pirazzi Competition. One year later, I gave my debut with Schumann's cello concerto in Bremen with the orchestra, Sinfonia Concertante, in a wonderful church (where in fact my grandparents got married!). In 2011, I started my Bachelor of Music degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with a full scholarship, to study with Prof. Louise Hopkins. In 2016, I started my Guildhall Artist Masters degree at the Guildhall School. For the last six years, I have been passionately doing Martial Arts which keeps me healthy, balanced, strong and mindful. My concert experiences include solo concerts, recitals and chamber music concerts in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal and the UK in concert halls such as the Tonhalle Zürich, the Broadcasting Hall and the Glocke in Bremen, St. John Smith Square, Saffron Hall and the Barbican in London. My solo performances include Tchaikovsk's Variations on a Rococo Theme with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra in London, the Saint-Saens cello concerto with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and multiple performances of Schumann's cello concerto with the Kamerata Bremen in and around Bremen. I have gained a great deal of inspiration in several Master Classes and Festivals including the Harmos Festival in Portugal, the Youth Classics International Music Festival in Switzerland and the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove studying with renowned professors including Wen-Sinn Yang, Michael Sanderling, Gary Hoffmann, Louise Hopkins, Erich Höbarth, Ralph Gothoni and Thomas Adés among others. I am very grateful to all the generous support that I have received for my studies from the Guildhall School Trust, Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Awards, the Craxton Memorial Award, the Child Memorial Award and the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. From March 2017 till 2019, I habe been part of the Academy at the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with a scholarship over two years, which gave me the opportunity to travel the world and to play the most incredible repertoire in some of the wolds greatest concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Shanghai Concerthall, Beijing Forbidden Kingdom Concert Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Royal Albert Hall and many others.