Jean-Guihen Queyras

Jump to:
• DOWNLOAD BIOgraphy • DOWNLOAD PHOTOs • MEDIA • LINKS

BIOGRAPHY

“He’s as extraordinary to watch as to hear, seeming to lose himself completely in his instrument as though his cello is an extension of himself, every sinew strained in intense concentration as gorgeous clusters of notes poured from his bow in a manner that ought to be impossible from just one instrument.”
- The Times, July 2023

Curiosity, diversity and a ﬁrm focus on the music itself characterize the artistic work of Jean-Guihen Queyras. Whether on stage or on record, one experiences an artist dedicated completely and passionately to the music, whose humble and quite unpretentious treatment of the score reﬂects its clear, undistorted essence. The inner motivations of composer, performer and audience must all be in tune with one another in order to bring about an outstanding concert experience: Jean-Guihen Queyras learnt this interpretative approach from Pierre Boulez, with whom he established a long artistic partnership. This philosophy, alongside a ﬂawless technique and a clear, engaging tone, also shapes Jean-Guihen Queyras’ approach to every performance and his absolute commitment to the music itself.

His approaches to early music - as in his collaborations with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin - and to contemporary music are equally thorough. He has given world premieres of works by, among others, Ivan Fedele, Gilbert Amy, Bruno Mantovani, Michael Jarrell, Johannes-Maria Staud, Thomas Larcher and Tristan Murail. Conducted by the composer, he recorded Peter Eötvös’ Cello Concerto to mark his 70th birthday in November 2014.

Jean-Guihen Queyras was a founding member of the Arcanto Quartet and forms a celebrated trio with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov; the latter is, alongside Alexandre Tharaud, a regular accompanist. He has also collaborated with zarb specialists Bijan and Keyvan Chemirani on a Mediterranean program.

The versatility in his music-making has led to many concert halls, festivals and orchestras inviting Jean-Guihen to be Artist in Residence, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Vredenburg Utrecht, De Bijloke Ghent and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

Jean-Guihen Queyras often appears with renowned orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Residentie Orkest Den Haag, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, working with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, François-Xavier Roth, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Roger Norrington.

Jean-Guihen Queyras’ discography is impressive. His recordings of cello concertos by Edward Elgar, Antonín Dvořák, Philippe Schoeller and Gilbert Amy have been released to critical acclaim. As part of a harmonia mundi project dedicated to Schumann, he has recorded the complete piano trios with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov and at the same time the Schumann cello concerto with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado. The recording “THRACE - Sunday Morning Sessions” explores, in collaboration with the Chemirani brothers and Sokratis Sinopoulos, the intersections of contemporary music, improvisation and Mediterranean traditions. In addition to the ﬁrst CD of the "Invisible Stream" Ensemble 2022, consisting of Jean-Guihen Queyras, Raphaël Imbert, Pierre-François Blanchard and Sonny Troupé, the recording of the cello concertos by Kraft and CPE Bach with the Ensemble Resonanz under the direction of Riccardo Minasi was released in 2024. He has also released a new recording of the complete cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, 17 years after the ﬁrst complete recording in 2007. Jean-Guihen Queyras records exclusively for harmonia mundi.

In the 2025/26 season, Queyras will perform under the batons of Yannick Nézet-Seguin, Dima Slobodeniouk, Andris Poga, Juraj Valcuha, Duncan Ward, Karina Canellakis, Aziz Shokhakimov, Christian Reif with renowned orchestras such as Boston Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Métropolitain, Kammerakademie Potsdam and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights of the season include a tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Veronika Eberle, with concerts in Prague, Luxembourg, Paris, New York and Philadelphia, as well as tours to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Together with Alexandre Tharaud he will premiere a new double concerto by Oscar Strasnoy.

Jean-Guihen Queyras holds a professorship at the University of Music Freiburg and is Artistic Director of the “Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence” festival in Forcalquier. He plays on the “Kaiser” Stradivarius made in Cremona in 1707, kindly made available to him by Canimex Inc. of Drummondville (Quebec), Canada.

2025/2026
Please do not make any changes, omissions or additions, unless authorized by artist management.

Download Artist Biography