Spain
Hailed by The Times as a “remarkable cellist” and described by Gramophone as “sheer perfection”, Kian Soltani’s playing is characterised by profound depth of expression, sense of individuality and technical mastery, complemented by his charismatic stage presence. He now appears regularly with many of the world’s esteemed orchestras and conductors, firmly establishing himself as a leading voice among today’s generation of cellists.
In the 2026/27 season, Soltani makes return appearances with the Staatskapelle Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, and Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and returns to the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra to perform the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Aftab Darvishi at The Concertgebouw and as part of the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam. He also makes debuts with the Dresdner Philharmonie, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra; together with Anne-Sophie Mutter, he gives the world and European premieres of Golfam Khayam’s Triple Concerto in Dallas and Copenhagen, before touring the work across Europe's leading concert halls.
Further highlights in the 2026/27 season include European tours with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, including stops at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and Konzerthaus Dortmund, among others. As a dedicated chamber musician, Soltani tours Europe in trio with Renaud Capuçon and Mao Fujita and in quartet with Benjamin Grosvenor, Timothy Ridout, and Hyeyoon Park. Later in the season, he makes a return to Carnegie Hall for an all-Brahms programme alongside Leonidas Kavakos, Gil Shaham, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, and Alisa Weilerstein.
Soltani has performed with many leading ensembles including the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Münchner Philharmoniker, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He is also a frequent guest at prominent festivals such as Verbier, Rheingau, Dvořák Prague, Bregenz, Gstaad Menuhin, Grafenegg, and Salzburg, to name only a few.
In 2017, Soltani signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, releasing his acclaimed debut album HOME in the following year, featuring works by Schubert, Schumann, and Reza Vali and described by Gramophone as “sublime”. He went on to record Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim in 2020, and released a Schumann album with Camerata Salzburg, featuring the Cello Concerto and Lieder transcriptions, in 2024. His 2021 album CELLO UNLIMITED, a solo exploration of the cello’s expressive range and cinematic power, earned him the Innovative Listening Experience Award at the 2022 Opus Klassik Awards.
Born in Bregenz, Austria, to a family of Persian musicians, Soltani began playing the cello at the age of four, and was only twelve years old when he joined Ivan Monighetti’s class at the Basel Music Academy. In 2014, he was the recipient of a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, before completing further studies at the Kronberg Academy in Germany and the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein.
Soltani plays the 1694 “London, ex-Boccherini" cello by Antonio Stradivari, kindly loaned to him by a generous sponsor through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
