Dietmar Schwalke

At the age of twelve Dietmar Schwalke so admired a cello-playing friend that he did everything he could to get his father’s permission to have cello lessons himself. In only four months his technique had surpassed his friend’s. Later he studied with Arthur Troester, Wolfgang Boettcher and Pierre Fournier. After receiving several prizes and distinctions, he made his solo debut with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (now Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester) playing Schumann’s Cello Concerto in the Berlin Philharmonie. As a member of the Kreuzberg String Quartet he appeared between 1983 and 1989 in all the European musical centres and during this time also taught at Berlin’s Hochschule der Künste and as a visiting chamber-music coach. For four years he played in the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra before moving in 1994 to the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Dietmar Schwalke is also active as a soloist and chamber musician. From 1998 to 2018, he played with Christian Stadelmann and Alexander Malter in the Vincent Trio; from 2009 to 2019, he was cellist of the Philharmonia Quartet Berlin – and of course he is a member of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Besides music, he loves gardening and growing apple and nut trees. Woodwork is also one of his hobbies. In fact, he even built his own cello under the guidance of a violin maker from the Eifel region of Germany.