Born in Gorky, Russia, the cellist, singer and conductor Emil Rovner has established himself as a compelling musician, commanding ‘flawless technical mastery’ (FonoForum) and expressive depth, as well as being a sought-after teacher and festival leader.
Emil Rovner´s most recent projects include solo perfomances with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (Dvorak concerto), the Corean Chamber Orchestra in Seoul, the Sinfonietta Cracovia, the Presidential Symphony Orchestrea of Ankara, a Debut at the Shostakovitch Festival in Gohrisch with a world premiere of a new piece by Sofia Gubaidulina, a World Premiere of the “Kyrie in memory of Boris Nemtsov” by Evgeny Shcherbakov as well as concert performances in Prades (Casals Festival), Bonn (Beethoven Fest), Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie), Luzern (KKL), Gstaad (Menuhin Festival), Copenhagen (Tivoli Concert Hall) etc..
Emil Rovner was born in Gorky, Russia in a family of musicians, where he began taking cello lessons with Anatoly Lukianenko at the Glinka Conservatory. By the age of ten he had already given his solo début with the Gorky City Symphony. He continued his studies with Ivan Monighetti in Madrid and Basle and completed them with Boris Pergamenschikow at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, where he took his performance degree. He also received lessons from Mstislav Rostropovich who has had a strong impact on his artistic development.
He studied singing with U. Messthaler at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and took lessons in conducting from M. Samorukova.
He has worked closely with such leading contemporary composers as Sofia Gubaidulina, Valentin Silvestrov, Heinz Holliger, Per Nørgård, Bernd Franke,Tigran Mansurian, Elena Firsova a.o.
Emil Rovner has won many prizes at international cello competitions, including a First Prize at the Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria as well as at the Lausanne Competition under the patronage of Lord Menuhin. In 1998 he won the First Prize and two special awards at the J. S. Bach Competition in Leipzig, marking the onset of his international concert career.