Maximilian Hornung | UKARIA Cultural Centre

German cellist Maximilian Hornung presents a program uniquely suited to our intimate space. Hornung's sophisticated musicality and virtuosity have enabled him to forge a unique career path. Following his 2007 win of Germany's prestigious ARD competition (with his Tecchler Piano Trio), Hornung served for four years as principal cellist of Munich's hallowed Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, before leaving the post to devote himself to solo and chamber music repertoire. A former protégé of Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hornung appears regularly with orchestras such as the Berlin and London Philharmonics, and counts Vilde Frang, Daniil Trifonov and Mutter among his chamber music partners.

His program exclusively comprises music for solo cello. Bookended by Bach suites, the program is otherwise characterised by contemporary compositional voices. British composer Mark Simpson's Un Regalo (a gift), was written for cellist Guy Johnston in celebration of his remarkable 310-year-old Tecchler instrument. Simpson's wide-ranging piece converses with German composer Hans Werner Henze's Serenade for Solo Cello – the instrument that held most meaning for this composer.

In the second half, American composer Caroline Shaw's in manus tuas – based on a sixteenth century Thomas Tallis motet – evokes a 'secular solo cello compline service, held in a dark, candlelit nave', in preparation for a final return to the eighteenth century, and Bach's singular, eloquent voice.