Biography

Estonian cellist Marcel Johannes Kits is one of the most promising young cellists of his generation, having won the 3rd prize at the Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition and 1st prize at the George Enescu competition in Romania. He’s also the 1st prize winner at the Johannes Brahms competition in Austria and at the major competitions in Estonia (TV competition “Classical Stars” and National String Competition).

His upcoming highlights this summer are a tour in Belgium with the Belgian National Orchestra under conductor Eivind Aadland and a tour in Estonia and South Korea with the Estonian Festival Orchestra under conductor Paavo Järvi.

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He has performed as soloist with many orchestras such as the Brussels Philharmonic, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National SO, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Kymi Sinfonietta, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel SO Rishon LeZion, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, etc., and has worked with conductors such as Stéphane Denève, Vahan Mardirossian, Vassily Sinaisky, Olari Elts, Andres Mustonen, Risto Joost, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Yuwon Kim, Tõnu Kaljuste, Ville Matvejeff, Arvo Volmer, Mihkel Kütson and many others.
He’s played as the guest principal cello in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich and plays regularly in the Estonian Festival Orchestra.

He has given recitals also in China and Japan and performed at venues such as Bozar and Flagey in Brussels, the grand hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Moscow Conservatory, grand hall of Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, grand hall of Konzerthaus Berlin, Berliner Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Prinzregententheater München, Romanian Athenaeum, Tel Aviv Opera House and Jerusalem Theatre.
He’s been invited to perform at festivals such as Pärnu Music Festival, Young Euro Classic, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Musical Olympus Festival, MustonenFest Tel Aviv etc.

Being passionate about chamber music, he has played from the age of 9 in the piano trio Trio ‘95 with Robert Traksmann (violin) and Rasmus Andreas Raide (piano).

Marcel showed great interest in the cello when he was just four years old, and began his first lessons at the age of five. He studied with Laine Leichter and Mart Laas in Tallinn Music High School. From 2014, he studied with prof. Francis Gouton at Trossingen University of Music and from 2018 he is continuing his studies at the Berlin University of the Arts with prof. Jens Peter Maintz.

He has participated in masterclasses of Steven Isserlis, prof. Ivan Monighetti, prof. David Geringas, prof. Maria Kliegel, prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, prof. Wen-Sinn Yang, prof. Jan-Erik Gustafsson, prof. Marko Ylönen and many others.

He receives a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participates regularly in the intensive music weeks and activities offered by the Academy. He is supported by Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Association of Estonian Professional Musicians, which awarded him the “Musician of the year” prize in 2019.

Marcel plays an Italian cello made by Francesco Ruggeri (Cremona, 1674) and a bow made by Victor Fetique, both kindly on loan to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.