Kristina Blaumane

Latvian cellist Kristina Blaumane is invited to play as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician around the world.

She was born in Riga and graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music, where she studied with Eleonora Testeleca, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama (prof. Stefan Popov).

She has performed as a soloist with London Philharmonic Orchestra (under Vladimir Jurowski, Osmo Vänskä, Andrey Boreyko and Thierry Fischer), Amsterdam Sinfonietta (Lev Markiz and Pieter Oundjian), Chicago Civic Orchestra (Andris Nelsons), MDR Symphony orchestra (Kristjan Järvi), Kremerata Baltica, Britten Sinfonia, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Opera Orchestra, Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Sofia Soloists, Plovdiv Opera Orchestra, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Ensemble Ubertini, Dalarna Sinfonietta and others.

Kristina is a keen chamber musician and has worked in partnership with such artists as Isaac Stern, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Boris Brovtsyn, Roman Mints, Maxim Rysanov, Katya Apekisheva, Jacob Katsnelson, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Misha Maisky, Nikolaj Znaider, Tatyana Grindenko, Oleg Maisenberg among others, and has performed at festivals such as Lockenhaus, Gstaad, Salzburg, Verbier, Basel, Jerusalem, Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Utrecht, Spitalfields, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Homecoming and Crescendo.

Kristina has been an avid promoter of new music. She has premiered a number of works, among them cello concertos by Dobrinka Tabakova, Kristaps Pētersons, Pēteris Plakidis, Artem Vassiliev and most recently Elena Langer. Kristina appears as a soloist on the ECM debut disc of composer Dobrinka Tabakova, which reached number 2 in the UK classical charts and has received a GRAMMY nomination. Besides this album, Kristina has recorded for ONYX, QUARTZ and BMG labels.

Kristina is a winner of many awards including Latvian Philharmonic Young Musician of the Year, Latvian Television Competition “Alternatīva”, Carmel International Competition, Musicians Benevolent Fund and Lord Mayor’s Prize. She is a two time laureate of the Grand Music Award (Lielā Mūzikas Balva), the highest prize given by the Latvian State in the field of music (2005; 2007).

Since 2007 Kristina combines her busy career with a principal cello position in London Philharmonic Orchestra.