Internationally renowned cellist Giovanni Gnocchi has enjoyed a career spanning major concert halls, renowned orchestras and leading festivals worldwide. Based in Salzburg, he combines a distinguished performance career with a strong commitment to chamber music and teaching, and has been Professor of Violoncello at the Mozarteum University Salzburg since 2013.
The Italian cellist Giovanni Gnocchi is internationally active as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He made his solo debut at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in concert with Yo-Yo Ma, a performance that marked the beginning of a wide-ranging international presence.
Since then, he has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including Camerata Salzburg, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana, Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice, and the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He has performed under distinguished conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Christopher Hogwood, Carlo Rizzi, Alexander Shelley and Michele Spotti, and was soloist in residence with the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini in Pesaro for three seasons.
Recent highlights include performances of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante in Mexico, Brahms’ Double Concerto, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, concertos by Joseph and Michael Haydn, the two cello concertos by Nino Rota, and Italian premieres of works by Mieczysław Weinberg. His performances have taken him to major venues and festivals such as the Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Beethovenfest Bonn, KKL Luzern, Lucerne Festival, Verbier Festival and Prague Spring Festival.
A passionate chamber musician, Giovanni Gnocchi has collaborated with artists including Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Leonidas Kavakos, Mario Brunello, members of the Hagen Quartet, and pianists such as Alexander Lonquich, Andrea Lucchesini and Alasdair Beatson. His solo and chamber music performances have been broadcast by RAI, ORF, Bayerischer Rundfunk, RTVS and NPO Radio 4, and he has recorded for labels including Deutsche Grammophon and Stradivarius.
Prizewinner at the International Haydn Competition in Vienna, the Prague Spring Cello Competition and the Antonio Janigro Competition, he is also a recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.
From 2002 to 2010, Giovanni Gnocchi served as Principal Cellist of Camerata Salzburg and has since appeared as guest principal with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic. He has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2008.
In 2013, he was appointed Professor of Violoncello at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.