Biography

Clara Schlotz was born on August 9, 2004, in Lausanne, Switzerland. She began playing the cello at the age of seven with Martin Reetz at the Lausanne Conservatory. Clara has been a multiple laureate of the Swiss Youth Music Competition, where she was awarded several first prizes with distinction in both solo and chamber music categories.

In 2018, she received the SUISA Prize for her interpretation of Dolcissimo, the final movement of Das Buch by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. She also holds a piano diploma, obtained in 2023. During the same year, she won a second prize ex æquo at the Concours d’Interprétation de Lausanne. She has performed regularly in recital, including appearances at Lavaux Classic, the Classeek Showroom in Aubonne with Gautier Capuçon, and the Week-end musical de Pully.

Clara joined the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra in 2021 and 2022, where she played symphonic and opera repertoire with James Gaffigan, among others. Since 2023, she has been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, performing under the direction of conductors such as Klaus Mäkelä, Antonio Pappano, Vassily Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Dutoit, and Lahav Shani. With the latter, she had the honor of playing the renowned orchestral cello solo in Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto alongside pianist Alexandre Kantorow. In 2025, she will return to Verbier and will also make her debut with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, under the direction of Manfred Honeck. In 2022, she was invited to perform at the Festival Herbst im Helferei in Zurich alongside Bruno Delepelaire, principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as Thomas Grossenbacher and his students. She has taken part in masterclasses with distinguished musicians including Frans Helmerson, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Edgar Moreau, Reinhard Latzko, Bruno Delepelaire, Daniel Müller-Schott, and Anastasia Kobekina (in a session she also co-organized). Since September 2023, Clara has been studying in the class of Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), where she is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in cello performance.

In May 2024, she participated in the Hellensmusic Festival in England, working with Bruno Delepelaire, Maya Iwabuchi, and Matthew Hunt in cello and chamber music masterclasses. In October 2024, Clara was invited to perform as a substitute cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a program featuring works by Busoni and Debussy, conducted by Sakari Oramo with Kirill Gerstein as soloist. The same month, she began working as a substitute cellist at the Zurich Opera House, where she performed in Die Tote Stadt by Erich Korngold under the direction of Lorenzo Viotti.