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KRISTINA BLAUMANE CELLO
festivals in Moscow. She has also performed chamber music with artists such as Isaac Stern, Gidon Kremer, Yo Yo Ma, Yuri Bashmet, Leif Ove Andsnes, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Bruno Giuranna, Misha Maisky, Nikolaj Znaider, Tatyana Grindenko, Oleg Maisenberg and others.
Kristina Blaumane was born in Riga into a family of musicians. After graduating from the Latvian Academy of Music where she studied with Eleonora Testeleca, she moved to England and studied with Stefan Popov at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Educated in the best traditions of Latvian and British schools she became a winner of many prestigious competitions and awards including the Latvian Philharmonic Young Musician of the Year, the Latvian Television Competition ‘Alternativa’, the Carmel International Competition, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Lord Mayor’s Prize. Kristina has twice, in 2005 and 2007, become a laureate of the Great Music Award, the highest prize given by the Latvian State in the field of music. She is now enjoying a busy career giving recitals and performing with orchestras such as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Britten Sinfonia, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Opera Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Wind Ensemble under conductors including Thomas Sanderling, Lev Markiz, Andris Nelsons, Takuo Yuasa and Peter Oundjian. Kristina has been a guest at major international festivals such as Lockenhaus, Gstaad, Salzburg, Verbier, Basel, Jerusalem, Utrecht, Spitalfields, Cheltenham and Aldeburgh as well as the Homecoming and Crescendo
6 | London Philharmonic Orchestra
Last season Kristina Blaumane released her debut recital CD with Russian pianist Jacob Katsnelson on the Quartz label. The album comprises sonatas by Barber and Grieg as well as Martinu˚’s Variations on a Slovakian Theme. She has also recorded for Onyx and Conifer Classics as well as for BBC, Dutch, Israeli, Russian and Latvian radio and television. At the age of 22, Kristina was appointed Principal Cello of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and in November 2007 she was appointed Principal Cello of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Her chair is supported by Simon Yates and Kevin Roon. She also regularly appears as a guest leader with Kremerata Baltica.