The internationally sought-after cellist Johannes Raab has secured a permanent place in the world of classical music through his virtuosic playing and versatile interpretative art. Highly praised by the press, he stands out for his musical complexity. Professor Daniel Graf describes him as "technically at the highest level. His playing combines the utmost musical intelligence with musical instinct."

 

Raab's cello playing is characterized by a "noble sound quality that every cellist should seek," as expressed by Bernard Greenhouse, founding member and cellist of the world-famous Beaux Arts Trio.

 

The former principal cellist of the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, Graf, also certifies that Johannes Raab is "one of the best interpreters of our time." The rare ability to switch effortlessly between different styles is described by the world-renowned harpsichordist Prof. Ludger Remy as "sleepwalking and accurate."

 

"His cello playing is characterized by the highest technical perfection, combined with elegance, deep musicality, and fascinating tonal colors. Moreover, he shows a high degree of openness, creativity, and versatility; an understanding of music that does not stop at his own playing. In the best sense of the word, he is a mediator of music. Anyone who encounters him, listens to his great cello playing, or talks to him about music, does not question whether classical music still has relevance in our time or whether we will find an audience for it in the future. His passion and talent for conveying it is the best advocate for music itself." - Insa Pijanka (director)

 

As a soloist, his career has taken him on celebrated tours to Mexico, where he performed with the country's most renowned orchestras in 2023.

 

A special highlight of his career are the numerous solo evenings in Germany, where he interprets the transcendental cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach. These performances have always deeply moved the audience with their depth and expressiveness, and they testify to Johannes Raab's extraordinary skill and dedication to this music.

 

His solo program "PRÉLUDES," which he conceived together with Insa Pijanka, received enthusiastic acclaim from the press. Here, Raab appears not only as a cellist but also as a composer. It combines Bach's cello preludes with modern solo works for cello and texts by contemporary authors and the Luther Bible. The Hessisch Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: "Bach's preludes, in Raab's interpretation, became highlights. The cellist masterfully shaped the vibrant texture as well as the crescendos, exploring euphoria and melancholy. Particularly effective was his trance-like state in the last concertante D major prelude."

 

The fact that Bach's cello suites hold a special place for Raab is also evident from his "PROJECT SIX," a complete film recording he is currently producing. This is generously supported by Bärenreiter Verlag. The first four films of this six-part series have already been broadcast by various German television stations. These recordings also enjoy great attention abroad; the G major suite by J. S. Bach was published by the English broadcaster CLASSIC FM and viewed more than two hundred thousand times on online platforms within the first hours.

 

In addition to the solo cello repertoire, his special passion is chamber music. To focus mainly on this genre, he ended his orchestral activities in 2015 and played for several years in the Trio Abaton and as a founding member of the Nichiteanu Trio, with which he undertook worldwide concert tours.

 

Johannes Raab has an exclusive contract with the label Fecit Classics, with which he has produced various recordings, including repertoire from Bach, Vivaldi, Schumann, Kodaly, Weinberg, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns, Piazzolla, and Morricone. In 2024, a CD will be released in which he presents three different epochs of solo literature for cello on three different Italian instruments, including a cello by Antonio Stradivari.

 

Working with talented young artists is very important to him, so he passionately supports several educational projects such as the Kassel Theater Youth Orchestra and gives international master classes by invitation of the globally active Goethe-Institut. Additionally, he is the managing director and lecturer at the International Music Academy Germany (IMAG), where, in addition to his regular teaching activities, he regularly offers master classes and is responsible for their international education and community projects. In this context, he gave master classes in five major Mexican cities in the spring of 2023. In Mexico City, the master class was hosted by the National Conservatory of Music. During this time, Raab chaired the jury of the 1st IMAG International Cello Competition "Manuel María Ponce."

 

His training began with Edwin Koch, then principal cellist of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. At the age of 14, Johannes Raab began his studies with Troels Svane in Lübeck and continued them in Dresden with Konstantin Heidrich and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. He furthered his studies through international master classes with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Pergamenschikow, Bernard Greenhouse (Beaux Arts Trio), Miklós Perényi, Wolfgang Boettcher, David Geringas, Alban Gerhardt, Jens-Peter Maintz, Stephan Forck, and Götz Teutsch. He gained insights into the performance practice of early music, to which he dedicated several years of his studies, through intensive work with Prof. John Holloway (baroque violin) and Prof. Ludger Remy (harpsichord). His education was rounded off as a substitute for the Dresden Philharmonic and as a scholarship holder of the Giuseppe Sinopoli Academy of the Staatskapelle Dresden.

 

From 2009 to 2015, his engagements as principal cellist took him from the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau through the Staatsorchester Kassel to Hamburg, where he was engaged with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester. He was also principal cellist in the Louis Spohr Chamber Orchestra Kassel and played in the same position in the Camerata Hamburg.

 

Johannes Raab is the official brand ambassador of Thomastik-Infeld, KOKON sleeves, and A-case, and anniversary ambassador of the Bärenreiter music publishing house.

 

Johannes Raab plays a cello by Matteo Goffriller, Venice 1715, a Giovanni Battista Grancino I, Milan 1695, and a Carlo Antonio Testore, Milan 1726. Additionally, he uses bows from the Arcus company, as well as a gold bow by Eugène Nicolas Sartory, Mirecourt 1920, a Charles François Peccatte, Mirecourt, Paris 1890, and a Hermann Richard Pfretzschner, Markneukirchen 1905.