“an extraordinary talent with wonderful musical temperament and control of the instrument.”

“In Martinu’s Variations on a theme of Rossini, this finely gifted young cellist’s qualities came to the fore – he demonstrated such superb musicianship throughout the programme that one eagerly looks foward to hearing Thomas Rann many times in the future.”

Thomas Rann is increasingly recognised as the most exciting young cellist to have emerged from Australia in recent years.

In 2008, Thomas Rann gives his Wigmore Hall recital debut with pianist Wu Qian, made his debut with the Queensland Orchestra under Vladimir Verbitsky (Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso and Andante Cantabile) and will give a recital for the inaugural Adelaide International Cello Festival. He will also make his Cadogan Hall debut performing Strauss Don Quixote with the London Phoenix Orchestra and his US recital debut in New York City.

Born in Adelaide, Thomas Rann commenced his cello studies at the age of nine under the tuition of Ruth Saffir and Niall Brown (University of Adelaide). In 2000, Thomas Rann entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, as the only pupil of distinguished English cellist Raphael Wallfisch.   He is now based in London.

Throughout his studies in the United Kingdom, Thomas Rann has performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’ Piccadilly, Australia House, St James’ Palace and Westminster Abbey. He has appeared at  the Festivals of Courchevel, Schleswig-Holstein, Radolfzell, Brighton (UK), London Festival of Jewish Culture, and Verbier (Switzerland). Thomas Rann’s concerto appearances include performances with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Preston Symphony Orchestra,  Australian National Academy of Music Orchestra, London Phoenix Orchestra and the Melbourne Sinfonia.

Winner of the prestigious Muriel Taylor Scholarship for Cellists (London, 2004) – previous laureates include Steven Isserlis, Raphael Wallfisch and Alexander Baillie – Thomas Rann undertook a two-year mentorship in Sydney in 2004 with Professor Uzi Wiesel. Highlights of the 2004/2005 season included recitals at the French and Finnish Embassies in Canberra and a performance at the Institut Franco-Japonais in Tokyo, Japan, for television broadcast in Japan, the USA and Russia. He also peformed at the Kronberg International Cello Festival in Frankfurt, Germany, won the Australian National Academy of Music’s Concerto Competition and was featured as a “rising star” soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for ABC Classic FM’s Young Australia program.

In 2006, Thomas Rann made his widely acclaimed debut with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as soloist in the ‘Symphony Under the Stars’ outdoor concert before an audience of 30,000. During the same year, Thomas Rann was awarded the E.V. Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship for String Players  and a Senior Award following the Hattori Foundation Final in London. He was also selected as a finalist for the 2006 Music Council of Australia Freedman Fellowship. Other highlights of 2006 included a recital with Sydney International Piano Competition prize-winner Evgeny Ukhanov for ABC Classic FM’s “Rising Stars” programme, broadcast throughout Australia; his Musica Viva debut at a special function held in Sydney ; and a performance at the International Cello Seminar in Israel.

Thomas Rann has appeared as soloist with the Camden Chamber Orchestra and City of London Chamber Orchestra and has continued his regular recital partnerships with pianists Wu Qian and Leslie Howard. Other highlights included appearances for the Tait Memorial Trust at the Royal Overseas League, chamber music and solo performances at the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) and at the London School of Economics Shaw Library Series.

Thomas Rann has been the recipient of generous support from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, E.V. Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Hattori Foundation for exceptionally talented soloists (London), PPCA Foundation and the Tait Memorial Trust. He has also benefited greatly from the guidance of artists such as Gavriel Lipkind, Karine Georgian, Bernard Greenhouse, Frans Helmerson, Heinrich Schiff, Ralph Kirshbaum, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis and Ivry Gitlis. He is grateful for the use of a fine 18th Century Italian cello owned by the late R.A.G. Holmes AM.

The biography belowis courtesy of Robert Gilder & Co.