Andreas Brantelid

Andreas Brantelid was born in Copenhagen in 1987 to Swedish/Danish parents. After receiving early tuition from his father Ingemar, Andreas made his soloist debut at the age of 14 in a performance of the Elgar concerto with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. Today, Andreas is one of the most sought-after performing artists from Scandinavia, winning worldwide critical acclaim for his thought-provoking interpretations, uniquely colorful sound and engaging personality.

Highlights of recent orchestra engagements includes appearances with the London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, BBC Symphony, and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Yomiyuri Nippon Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Radio Symphony, Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Munich Chamber Orchestra, as well as all the major orchestras in the Nordic countries. He has worked with many distinguished conductors including Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philippe Herreweghe, Vasily Petrenko, Thomas Dausgaard, Pablo Heras-Casado, Andrew Manze, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Robin Ticciati, and Heinrich Schiff. 

Among the musicians who inspired and strongly influenced Andreas are pianist Bengt Forsberg and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf, both of whom Andreas has played with since 2002 in different chamber music formats. Andreas has also collaborated with artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Vadim Repin, Nikolaj Znaider, Lawrence Power and Paul Badura-Skoda. Recently he has formed a trio with German violinist Veronika Eberle and Israeli pianist Shai Wosner. Together with pianist Christian Ihle Hadland he also forms the artistic direction of Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival in Norway since 2018.

Mr. Brantelid has appeared in venues such as New York (Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall), London (Wigmore Hall), Zurich (Tonhalle), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Barcelona (Palau de la Música), Salzburg (Mozarteum) and Tokyo (Metropolitan Theatre). He also performs at festivals including Verbier, Lockenhaus, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Bergen, Risør, Kuhmo, and Wiener Festwochen, and has been a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. 

His debut disc of the Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Saint-Saëns cello concertos with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra was released by EMI in 2008, followed by a disc of chamber music by Chopin including his cello sonata (2010), and an Encore disc (2012).  A recording of the complete works for cello and piano by Grieg was released by BIS in March 2015. Gabriel Fauré's complete works for cello and piano will appear as a BIS recording in 2016. Most recent he released a much acclaimed CD with both Haydn Cello Concertos in 2021 with the period ensemble Concerto Copenhagen led by Lars Ulrik Mortensen and his latest release “48 Strings” from 2022 features music for 1, 2, 4 and 12 celli and pays homage to the four greatest cellists from the beginning of the 20th century. Also in 2022, he finished a remarkable project with video recordings of Piatti’s 12 Caprices available on Youtube and Apple Music.

Andreas won first prizes in the 2006 Eurovison Young Musicians Competion, the 2007 International Paulo Cello Competition and, in subsequent years, received music awards and fellowships including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2008, the BBC’s New Generation Artist 2008-2011, and the Europan Concert Hall Organization "Rising Star" tour in the 2008/09 season. In 2015 he received the Carl Nielsen Prize in Copenhagen. 

Andreas plays the 1707 "Boni-Hegar" Stradivarius, which has been made available to him by the generous support of Norwegian art collector Christen Sveaas. From 2007 to 2011, he studied at Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson.