Biography

Cellist Rainer Crosett, hailed by *Seen & Heard International* (2024) as “sensational” and for his “total commitment and conviction,” is rapidly building an international career as an artist of extraordinary sensitivity and creativity. From his acclaimed recital debut at Wigmore Hall in 2019, where he became the first American cellist to win the Pierre Fournier Award, to his concerto debut in spring 2023 with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, he regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician on some of the most prestigious stages across Europe and North America.

Rainer’s passion for the connections between music and other disciplines continues to inspire groundbreaking projects and programs. He is the co-founder of Tonhain Kollektiv, an interdisciplinary chamber music society based in Berlin, and has performed at numerous festivals, including Yellow Barn, the Ravinia Steans Institute, the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, the HearAndNow Festival Amsterdam, the Romsey Chamber Music Festival, the Miesbach Kammermusikfestival, Eggenfelden klassisch, the Rheingau Musik Festival, Music@Menlo, the Trondheim Kammermusikkfestival, the Roman River Festival, and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music.

He has also collaborated closely with leading contemporary composers and performed with ensembles such as Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and the Parker Quartet. As a guest principal cellist, he has appeared with the Oslo Philharmonic and the Dresdner Philharmonie.

Rainer Crosett graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in Philosophy from Harvard University, where he received a Harvard Artist Development Fellowship and the Lucy Allen Paton Prize for excellence in the arts and humanities. After completing studies at the New England Conservatory and the USC Thornton School of Music, he is currently pursuing further studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Jens Peter Maintz.