🇨🇭🇩🇪 Cellist
🎵 Chamber musician
👓Nerd
🌳Nature lover
📍Vienna, Austria 🇦🇹
… on the website of Jonathan, made by Jonathan. Here you’ll find all the necessary information – along with some much less necessary things, like the following instagram-style gallery 🌞
Find me in these concerts in Austria, Switzerland and around Europe 🚄
Swiss cellist and chamber musician Jonathan Gerstner was born on the shores of Lake Geneva in 2003.
He studied in Lausanne with Aude Pivôt, Martin Reetz, Patrick Demenga and currently with Reinhard Latzko (since 2022) and Julia Hagen (since 2025) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is the first prize winner of the 1st Heinrich Schiff Competition (2026) there. Further valuable input came from Jens Peter Maintz, Peter Bruns, Steven Isserlis, Thomas Grossenbacher and Pieter Wispelwey among others.
Jonathan participated in various academies and festivals such as the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, European Chamber Music Academy and Geneva International String Academy. As a dedicated chamber musician, he won first prize and a special prize at the 2025 International Johannes Brahms Chamber Music Competition in Gdańsk with the Cuore Piano Trio. He has also collaborated with countless artists including Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula, Sergey Ostrovsky, Patrick Demenga and Philippe Graffin in various chamber music settings and played in concert halls including Musikverein Wien, Stavanger Konserthus and Studio Flagey Bruxelles.
Reach out to Jonathan directly for any requests for concerts, collaborations, lessons and more 👇
Here you’ll find some of the most frequently asked questions that I get – for fun 🎉
I guess the authentic answer is: I woke up on this beautiful september morning and suddenly thought it would be hilarious to add an FAQ to my artist website 🌞
Any way you like! It sounds different in my 3 main languages (German, French and English) so I got used to different versions.
In English I tend to go with a 100% English-style first name and a German-English fusion for the last name. And let’s skip my 2 middle names for now 😳
I used to see people watch the empty and sad piece of carbon fiber on my back in the reflection of the subway windows. It brought up an idea. Since May 2024 I’ve been taking colorful markers everywhere I go, asking people to write and draw anything that makes them happy on my cello case 🌈 I call the case: “making a case for good vibes” and, in case it needs clarification, I love word plays 🙃
Oh and if you see me on the streets, just say: “Hi! I want to draw on your cello case” – and rest assured that I will answer “Hi! Of course! Please draw on my cello case”.
In 2019 I decided to stop taking airplanes in response to the climate crisis and the extremely high emissions of air travel. Since then I’ve been travelling to all my concerts by train, bicycle, foot, coach and avoiding car travel wherever possible.
I was 5, so I mean basically my parents told me to, let’s be honest… But! 10 years later I really started enjoying it ❤️
Most likely! Just reach out via the contact form above 😊
