German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt is one of the most sought-after and versatile artists today. As a cellist, conductor and artistic director he performs repertoire spanning from early to contemporary music.

Awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2010, he gave a highly acclaimed performance of the Schumann concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Lucerne Festival. Since then he has performed worldwide with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Czech Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne- and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras working with conductors like Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrew Manze, Lahav Shani, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Fedosseev, Giovanni Antonini and Andrea Marcon amongst many others.

In recital, Altstaedt performs solo and with partners Fazil Say and Alexander Lonquich at most prestigious halls and festivals worldwide. As a chamber musician, Nicolas plays with Janine Jansen, Vilde Frang, Tabea Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Andreas Ottensamer, Pekka Kuusisto, Jörg Widmann, Lawrence Power, Antoine Tamestit, Jonathan Cohen and the Quatuor Ébène.

In 2012, Nicolas was chosen by Gidon Kremer to become his successor as the new artistic director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival and in 2014, Ádám Fischer asked him to follow in his footsteps as Artistic Director of the Haydn Philharmonie, with whom he regularly performs at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Esterházy Festival and is touring both China and Japan.

Altstaedt premieres new musical works and performs the works of composers like Thomas Ades, Jörg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, Matthias Pintscher, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly and Fazil Say.

His recent recording of CPE Bach Concertos with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen released by Hyperion received the BBC Music Magazine Concerto Award 2017. His latest Recital CD with Fazil Say by Warner Classics received the Edison Klassiek 2017 award.

Nicolas Altstaedt was a BBC New Generation Artist 2010-2012 and a recipient of the „Borletti Buitoni Trust Fellowship“ in 2009. In 2018/2019 he was Artist in Residence at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Nicolas Altstaedt is an integral part of the Festival Maribor since 2016.