Jan-Erik Gustafsson

Finnish Cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson is one of the most outstanding and sought after soloist and chamber musician in the international music world today. He began his studies with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola at the West Helsinki Music Institute. He studied further with Mikhail Homitser and Frans Helmerson at the Edberg Musikinstitut in Stockholm, completing his soloist diploma examination in 1992.

At the age of fifteen, Gustafsson placed well in the EBU Young Musician competition in Copenhagen, and since then he has performed world wide both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He has appeared with countless distinguished orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth SO, the Berlin RSO, Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Hobart Symphony Orchestra in Australia, the Netherlands RSO, the Danish RSO, the Swedish RSO and the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Jerusalem SO, the Washington National SO, the New York, Lausanne and Vienna Chamber Orchestras, Camerata Bern and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. He performed also with nearly all Finnish orchestras.

Jan-Erik Gustafsson has collaborated with some of the most outstanding maestros, including Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Hannu Lintu, Osmo Vänskä, Klaus Mäkelä, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Leonid Grin, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, Andrew Litton, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Harding and many others.

In 1994, Jan-Erik Gustafsson signed a contract with the American YCA agency. Consequently, he regularly gives solo recitals on tour in the USA, Europe and the Far East at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Brahms Hall in Vienna, Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, and many more. At chamber music festivals worldwide, he has collaborated with Pinchas Zukerman, Ralf Gothóni, Leif-Ove Andsnes, Paavali Jumppanen, Christian Tetzlaff, Arto Satukangas, Leonidas Kavakos, Liana Isakadze, Ivry Gitlis and countless others.

In 1997 Jan-Erik Gustafsson received a personal invitation from maestro Mstislav Rostropovich to perform the Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante at the Cello Congress with the St. Petersburgh Philharmonic Orchestra in St. Petersburgh, Russia.

Jan-Erik Gustafsson has made several recordings for Ondine, claiming world-wide critical acclaim and praise for his interpretations. His album featuring Cello Sonatas by Szymanowski, Kodály and Schnittke (ODE 827-2) was nominated Record of the Year in 1994 and his Englund Cello Concerto disc (ODE 951-2) was nominated Record of the Year 2000, both by the Finnish IFPI.