Tanja Tetzlaff is recognised as one of the most influential cellists of her generation, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her playing is distinguished by a uniquely refined, powerful and nuanced tone, always shaped by cultivated musicality. She is committed to going beyond traditional concert formats, integrating other art forms and engaging with social and ecological issues. In recognition of both her artistic work and her strong advocacy for climate protection, she was awarded the Duisburg Music Prize in 2024 and in 2021 she became a lifetime ambassador of “Orchester des Wandels”.
A central project of her climate advocacy is her 2021 film Suites for a Suffering World, realised with support from the Glenn Gould Bach Fellowship of the City of Weimar. The film frames Bach’s iconic Cello Suites as a reflection on nature’s beauty and its vulnerability in the face of climate change. It was screened in 2023 at the Vienna Rathaus Film Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn and Kronberg Festival, as well as in cinemas and on TV stations such as 3sat and NHK Japan. In October 2023, the film received the Opus Klassik Innovation Award for Sustainability. More information can be found on the website www.suites4nature.org.
While the core classical and romantic works for cello remain central to her artistry and programming, Tanja Tetzlaff’s repertoire reaches far into the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. In September 2022, she gave the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Double Concerto for Cello and Percussion with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and percussionist Hans Kristian Kjos Sørensen. In the same year, she premiered Tõnu Kõrvits’s Double Concerto in Tallinn alongside her husband, violinist Florian Donderer.
„She inspired with great tone and enormous expressive dimension – fantastic!“
rbb Kultur
Chamber music is a hallmark of her artistic life. A founding member of the Tetzlaff Quartett, she has performed with the ensemble worldwide since 1994. She also appears internationally in duo and trio formations with Florian Donderer. In addition, she is a member of the acclaimed Tetzlaff Trio with her brother Christian Tetzlaff and pianist Kiveli Dörken, who succeeded the late founding member Lars Vogt. The trio has released numerous award-winning recordings, including a Brahms album honoured with an International Classical Music Award (ICMA). Tanja Tetzlaff’s discography includes releases on Cavi, Ars, NEOS and Ondine, with works by Wolfgang Rihm, Ernst Toch and others. Her solo album featuring Bach Suites and works by Thorsten Encke was released in October 2019.
The 2026/27 season highlights the wide scope of her artistic interests, commencing with a trio concert at Wigmore Hall and an appearance at the gala concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, where she performs as a soloist with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. This is followed by a Beethoven cycle with pianist Kiveli Dörken in Bremen as well as concerts with the Tetzlaff Quartet in Vienna, Würzburg, Dresden and Amsterdam. She appears in Eckart von Hirschhausen’s stage program “Music Makes You Happy and Saves the World” together with pianist Christoph Reuter, with performances in Berlin, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Cologne. In this program, Eckart von Hirschhausen brings together chamber music, sounds of nature, cabaret, singing and conversation for an inspiring evening exploring happiness and the serious state of our planet.
Festival highlights this season include the Spannungen Festival in Heimbach, where she is a core member, as well as appearances in Rottweil, at the Fredener Musiktage, the World’s Edge Festival in New Zealand, the Kyoen Festival in Japan and the Molyvos International Music Festival.
Over the course of her international career, Tanja Tetzlaff has appeared with leading orchestras across Europe, Asia and North America, and works with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Karina Canellakis, Heinz Holliger, Paavo Järvi, Sir Roger Norrington and Robin Ticciati.
Since April 1, 2024, Tanja Tetzlaff has been Professor of Cello at the University of the Arts Bremen. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Professor Bernhard Gmelin and at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Professor Heinrich Schiff. She plays a cello by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, dated 1776.
