Tonio Henkel, cello

Tonio Henkel was born in Freiburg, Germany in 1976. At the age of five he began to play the cello and was taught by his parents who are both musicians. His first appearances on stage he has given already two years later after winning the regional junior competition.

In 1989 he won the 1. Prize of the national youth competition. Two years later he entered the Musikhochschule Freiburg as a young-student. In 1993 he went to study in Dekalb, Illinos, USA with Marc Johnson and the Vermeer Quartet at the Northern Illinois University. One year later he went to Bloomington, Indiana to study cello with Janos Starker and chamber music with Gyorgy Sebok, Menahem Pressler and Leonard Hokanson. In 1997 he finished his Performer?s Diploma at the Indiana University and went back to Germany to continue and finish his studies in Frankfurt/ Main at the Musikhochschule with Daniel Robert Graf.

Tonio Henkel was First Prize Winner of various chamber music competitions as well as solo competitions giving him the opportunity to perform in Europe, the United States and Japan.

He took part in numerous radio/ CD productions. Recently he recorded pieces for violin and cello by E.Schulhoff, H.Eisler , Z. Kodaly and J.Halvorsen together with his sister, violinist Susanna Y. Henkel on CD.

In 2004 Tonio Henkel became an orchestra member of the Staatskapelle Berlin in the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.

Tonio Henkel plays on a Vincenzo Ruggieri cello, made 1708 in Cremona.

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Comments Of Past Participants:

"It was the highlight of my year! I felt like I learned more the week at AKM about playing chamber music than I have in a long time."
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