Ludwig Quandt

“As a principal cellist, it’s important always to be ‘in close contact’ with my peers, and to form my section into a dependable support for the orchestra and the conductor. In this orchestra I get to experience how great music is produced on the concert platform: by abandoning yourself to it, instead of subjugating it.” (Ludwig Quandt)

Ludwig Quandt’s parents were professional musicians and made often music at home. He was six when he got to know Schubert’s Trout Quintet and, along with it, the double bass. That string instrument so delighted him that he started out by playing the next-biggest one, the cello – and then stayed with it.  
Quandt studied at Musikhochschule Lübeck with Arthur Troester, principal cellist of Berliner Philharmoniker from 1935 to 1945. Nearly fifty years later, as Troester’s final student, Quandt was invited to take over his teacher’s former position.

In 1985, he earned his diploma, and in 1987, passed his graduate exam with distinction. During and following his studies he attended master classes with Boris Pergamenschikow, Zara Nelsova, Maurice Gendron, Wolfgang Boettcher and Siegfried Palm. He was selected twice for the Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler. A prizewinner of the ARD International Music Competition, he played for two years in the Berliner Philharmoniker before becoming the orchestra’s principal cellist.

He also appears internationally as a soloist and chamber musician and is a member of various Philharmonic ensembles. He plays a 1675 cello by Francesco Ruggieri, which has been on loan to him from Deutsche Bank since 1993.

Quandt’s other interests include astronomy and dragonflies, and he loves country walking, cycling and kayaking; but he likes to spend most of his free time with his children.