“Apollonian-inspired sounds flinging their arms wide, hardly comprehensible in their beauty and spiritual depth,” wrote the Südwest-Presse about cellist Lionel Martin (*2003). Anne-Sophie Mutter describes him as “a wonderfully sensitive, spontaneously responsive, and highly imaginative artist.” With extraordinary solo presence and nuanced chamber music playing, he is one of the most sought-after musicians of his generation.

Lionel Martin is a prizewinner of the Budapest International Cello Competition (2025). Other awards include the Suggia Award (Porto, 2024) and First Prize at the Ton & Erklärung Competition (Hannover, 2022).

Since 2017, he has been a scholarship holder of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and regularly performs with the violinist in major concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, Wiener Musikverein, KKL Luzern, Teatro Colón, and Carnegie Hall. His chamber music partners include, among others, Lambert Orkis, Lauma Skride, Martin Klett, Sebastian Manz, and Franziska Hölscher.

As a soloist, he has appeared with leading orchestras, including the NDR Radiophilharmonie, ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich Orchestra, and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra.

Recitals have taken him to the Tonhalle Zürich, Lucerne Festival, Oberstdorfer Musiksommer, and Beethovenfest Bonn. He regularly performs with his brother, pianist Demian Martin. Their concerts have been broadcast by BR, hr, SWR, WDR, and ARTE; special attention has been drawn to the duo’s ability to improvise together at the audience’s request.

In 2021, Lionel Martin was selected for the SWR2 New Talent program, leading to numerous interviews, recordings, and concerts. His performances are broadcast internationally, and he was featured by the EBU in their Top Young Performersseries. His debut CD with John Tavener’s Cello Concerto The Protecting Veil and Svyati was released in 2023 by SWR Music. In 2024, a second CD featuring Kabalevsky’s Second Cello Concerto, recorded with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, followed.

Lionel Martin began cello studies at the age of five at the Tübingen Music School with Joseph Hasten, who taught him for twelve years. From 2020 to 2024, he studied with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zurich University of the Arts; since 2024, he has continued his studies with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy. He has also received important artistic guidance from Lynn Harrell, Martti Rousi, Jens Peter Maintz, Jan Vogler, and Yo-Yo Ma.