Participant data

Zoltán Despond (born 1992) belongs to the new and promising generation of Swiss cellists. His teachers were Pierre-Bernard Sudan (Fribourg), Marc Jaermann (Lausanne), Thomas Grossenbacher (Zurich), and Enrico Dindo (Pavia). In January 2018 and after four years spent under the instruction of Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Zoltán obtained the degree of Master of Performance, Specialised as Soloist with great results. Then he kept perfecting his skills at the Pavia Cello Academy in monthly lessons with the renowned Italian cellist Enrico Dindo. Additionally, he has taken part in masterclasses with Franz Helmerson, Antonio Meneses, Christophe Coin, Martin Ostertag, Christian Proske, and Giovanni Sollima. Zoltán Despond has played alongside such musicians as Ilya Gringolts, Silvia Simionescu, Claudius Hermann, Tanja Sonc, Marko Milenković, Anahit Kurtikyan, and Thomas Grossenbacher. He also regularly collaborates with pianists Anna Bertogna and Richard Octaviano Kogima.

I ROUND

1. Carlo Alfredo Piatti | "12 Caprices for Solo Cello" · Op. 25
   • No. 8
2. Johann Sebastian Bach | Cello Suite No. 4 · E flat major · BWV 1010
3. Arvydas Malcys | Narcissus for Solo Cello

II ROUND

1. Sergei Prokofiev | Sonata for Cello and Piano · C major · Op. 119
2. Vladas Jakubėnas | Serenade for cello and piano
3. Paul Hindemith | Sonata for Solo Cello No. 3 · Op. 25

III ROUND

1. Edward Elgar | Concerto for Cello (F. Thomas version for string orchestra) · E minor · Op. 85