Clemens Krieger

Having grown up in a highly musical and artistic family, Clemens Krieger began his cello studies with Marcio Carneiro at the Detmold University of Music, which he completed with the music teacher qualification and the concert exam in the soloist class. Daniil Shafran and Rudolf Metzmacher also had a formative influence on him. His playing combines a clear, radiant tone with warm expression and simple, straightforward elegance with a nuanced musical message.

Krieger discovered his special passion for chamber music early on, which for him represents the highest form of musical expression, including in terms of repertoire. He has many years of varied experience in several ensembles that he co-founded, including the String Trio Lukas David, the t.e.c.c. quartet, and particularly the Trio Tre Mondi, with which he made the world premiere recording of Jenö Tákacs’ Trio Rhapsody , Op. 11, as well as the Duo Avad, with whom he is releasing the world premiere recording of Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste , which he reconstructed, on the CD Französische Sehnsucht. Thomas Kupsch’s work Agens was dedicated to the Duo Avad in 2019 and premiered by the ensemble in January 2020.

An international concert career and numerous invitations to festivals and renowned concert series have taken Krieger to Europe, North Africa, South America, and Japan as a chamber musician and as a soloist with a number of orchestras. During a solo concert tour to France, he was awarded the medal of the city of Bayeux. Krieger has served as principal cellist of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, the Southwest German Philharmonic in Konstanz, and the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a member of the Dresden Philharmonic since 1992.

Clemens Krieger has always felt a calling to pass on his experience to others. During his studies he taught as assistant to Marcio Carneiro at the Detmold University of Music, and since 2000 as an instructor at the Dresden College of Music. Numerous CD albums and radio recordings in addition to live TV recordings document the great musical range of Krieger’s cello playing as well as his openness to a wide variety of musical styles.

Picture: Marco Borggreve