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The German cellist, Jan Vogler, a cello prodigé at age 6, first studied with his father Peter Vogler and subsequently with Josef Schwab in Berlin, Heinrich Schiff in Basel and Siegfried Palm. At the age of 20 he won the principal cello position of the Dresden Staatskapelle and became the youngest concertmaster in the history of this orchestra. However, his dream of a solo career gradually became reality and he left his position in Dresden in 1997. That same year, certain that the roots of old European music-making were to be found in America, he moved to New York, where he has remained sharing his home with his wife, violinist Mira Wang and their two children.
Recognized for his “playing of articulate brilliance” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) Jan Vogler’s distinguished career has featured him with renowned conductors Valery Gergiev, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel and David Robertson and and internationally acclaimed orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra in North America; Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester, Dresden Staatskapelle, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker in Europe. A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, he performs regularly with pianists Hélène Grimaud and Martin Stadtfeld and with violinist Mira Wang.
With a strong classical foundation, Jan Vogler embraces the work of his contemporaries and welcomes the process of experimentation, expansion and refinement in his performance style. A dedicated champion of contemporary music, he regularly premieres new works. Recent performance include compositions by renowned composers Tigran Mansurian (WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln conducted by Semyon Bychkov), John Harbison (with Mira Wang, the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and Udo Zimmermann (Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester).
The 2011-2012 season inlcuded performances of Strauss’ Don Quixote, Op. 35 with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Lorin Maazel, and with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Honegger’s Cello Concerto with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, and recitals in Paris and New York with Hélène Grimaud.
A major highlight of Jan Vogler’s 2012 summer calendar is his performances of J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (BWV 1007-1012) at MDR Musiksommer and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The 2012-2013 season features a return to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for performances of Bloch’s Schelomo (Hebrew Rapsody) conducted by Alan Gilbert both in New York and on tour, J. Brahms’ Double Concerto with violinist Mira Wang, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Moritzburg Festival Academy Orchestra, Mansurian’s Cello Concerto with the Dresdner Philharmonie, Schnittke’s Concerto No. 1 for Cello and Orchestra with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester, Strauss’s Don Quixote with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Kent Nagano, works by Haydn, C. Saint-Saëns, Dvořák, and Jimi Hendrix with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and an appearance at the Leipzig Jazz Festival in a program featuring Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint and Jimi Hendrix’s Machine Gun. Jan will also be heard in recital with pianist Hélène Grimaud in Brussels and New York and with pianist Martin Stadtfeld in Bonn.
A prolific and multi-award-winning recording artist, Jan records exclusively for Sony Classical. “My Tunes 2”, a companion to his acclaimed 2007 release “My Tunes,” continues Jan’s exploration of his favourite cello pieces and features works by Paganini, Fritz Kreisler, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Gabriel Fauré and Wagner. Other recent recordings include J.S. Bach’s Gambensonaten with pianist Martin Stadtfeld and two CD\s with The Knights and Eric Jacobsen: “New Worlds” on which he performs Dvořák’s Silent Woods (March 2010) and “Experience: Live from New York” (June 2009), which includes D. Shostakovich’s famous Cello Concerto No. 1, and Machine Gun, by Jimi Hendrix in a special arrangement for cello and orchestra. This live CD was recorded at Le Poisson Rouge, more famously known as the Village Gate, home to many Hendrix concerts. Vogler’s other releases for Sony Classical include the multiple award-winning “The Secrets of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto” with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Robertson, “Concerti Brillanti” featuring 18th- Century concertos, and “Tango!” with the Moritzburg Festival Artists that spotlights the music of Astor Piazzolla. He has recorded a series of CD’s with the Moritzburg Festival artists including the award-winning W.A. Mozart's Divertimento E flat major K 563, Suite of Le Nozze di Figaro (ECHO Klassik 2006) and a live recording of concertos by E. Carter and U. Zimmermann with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester (Neos), the Cello Concerti by Samuel Barber, Korngold, Bürger (Berlin Classics), Robert Schumann and Gabriel Fauré Piano Quintets (Sony Classical) with James Ehnes, Mira Wang, Naoko Shimizu and Louis Lortie and Felix Mendelssohn's Cello Sonatas (Berlin Classics) also with Louis Lortie. Upcoming releases include J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (BWV 1007-1012) (2012) and Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the Wiener Philharmoniker (2013).
In 2011 Jan Vogler received the Erich Kästner Prize by the Dresden Press Club. This prestigious award is given annually to a person in the field of politics, business and/or culture who has made an outstanding contribution to further the ideals of tolerance, humanity and international understanding. He has also received the European Cultural Prize for his contribution to the cultural community of Germany. Vogler’s recordings have won the Echo Klassik Award, the Pizzicato Supersonic Award (2011, 2008, 2006), Le Diapason d’Or, and the “Choc” de la Monde de la Musique.
The modern representative of the German cello tradition which goes back to Emanuel Feuermann and Julius Klengel, Jan Vogler shares his time between Dresden, Germany and New York City, combining the roots of his traditional musical education with a contemporary style of interpretation. He is the General Director of the Dresden Musikfestspiele and founder and Artistic Director of the Moritzburg Chamber Music Festival.
Jan Vogler plays the 1707-1710 Stradivarius 'Ex Castelbarco/Fau' cello and 1721 Domenico Montagnana cello ‘Ex-Hekking’. |
