Cello Masterclass with Prof. Jakob Spahn
📍 Vienna | 🗓 January 16–18, 2026

• 3 lessons with Prof. Spahn

• 1 lesson with Ion Storojenco

• Piano accompanist available

• Fee: €440

• Registration is valid after sending the form and required documents.

Jakob Spahn was born in Berlin. Inspired by a performance of “Carnival of the Animals” at the Berlin Philharmonie, he decided as a young boy to become a cellist. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin with Prof. David Geringas and Prof. Claudio Bohorquez, graduating with distinction in his soloist diploma.

He is a prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions and received the Special Prize of the Alice Rosner Foundation at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2010. As a scholarship holder of the German Music Competition, he was part of the national concert tour “Concerts of Young Artists.” He was supported by the German National Academic Foundation and the organization Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now. After two years as a scholarship holder at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, he was appointed Principal Cellist of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 2011.

His concert activities have taken him throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America, with performances at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Usedom Music Festival, and Zermatt Festival. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Scharoun Ensemble and collaborated with renowned artists such as Leonidas Kavakos, Heinz Holliger, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang. As a soloist, he has performed with the Wiener Concert Verein, Sinfonia Iuventus Warsaw, Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg, Saxon Wind Philharmonic, Württemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen, Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg, Southwest German Philharmonic Konstanz, and the Bavarian State Orchestra.

Spahn is also deeply committed to contemporary music, working with composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Ursula Mamlok, and Krzysztof Meyer. Under Penderecki’s direction, he recorded the composer’s First Cello Concerto and his complete works for solo cello. His discography with Hänssler Classic includes Friedrich Gulda’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, and his recording of Benjamin Britten’s solo suites was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award.

Jakob Spahn is Professor at the University of Music Nuremberg and regularly gives masterclasses at international festivals such as the Académie Internationale de Nice, the Summer Music Academy Hamburg, and the Cello Academy Rutesheim.

Ion Storojenco comes from a family of musicians and completed his early studies in his hometown, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He continued his musical education in Vienna and Paris, working with distinguished pedagogues such as Reinhard Latzko, Marc Coppey, Robert Nagy, and Valentin Erben. He later completed a master’s degree in Cluj-Napoca under the guidance of cellist Vasile Jucan.

Since 2013, he has performed regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, and Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, appearing on prestigious international stages under legendary conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Andris Nelsons, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Adam Fischer, Ivan Fischer, Jaap van Zweden, Yuri Temirkanov, Semyon Bychkov, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Harding, Bertrand de Billy, and Franz Welser-Möst.

From 2015 to 2017, he served as Principal Cellist of the Badische Philharmonie Pforzheim in Germany. He is currently a member of the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich in Vienna. His festival appearances include renowned events such as the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Salzburger Festspiele (Austria), Stavanger Chamber Music Festival (Norway), Ars Lituanica (Lithuania), and IJOA Bayreuth (Germany).

As a soloist, Ion Storojenco has performed with the Badische Philharmonie Pforzheim, Akademischer Orchesterverein Wien, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, and with philharmonic orchestras in Cluj, Chișinău, Brașov, Târgu Mureș, Odorheiu Secuiesc, Satu Mare, Bacău, Sibiu, Iași, and Ploiești.

In April 2023, he was awarded a Doctorate from the Academia Națională de Muzică Gheorghe Dima in Cluj-Napoca. His artistic achievements have been recognized through numerous national and international awards, including prizes at Gradus ad Parnassum (Graz, Austria), Liezen Cello Wettbewerb, and the Concursul Mihail Jora (Bucharest).

He performs on two exceptional instruments: a cello built in 1802 by Thomas Kennedy (England) and another crafted in 1892 by Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin (France).

Ion Storojenco currently teaches at the Academia Națională de Muzică Gheorghe Dima in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.