Alumni

Anastasia Kobekina

Cello
Russia

Hailed as an "unrivaled musician" by Le Figaro, Anastasia Kobekina captivates audiences with her stunning musicality, multi-layered interpretations, and charismatic stage presence. She is the recipient of the 2024 Leonard Bernstein Award. She studied with cellist Jerome Pernoo in Paris.

Awards
  • Leonard Bernstein Award 2024
  • Prizewinner Tchaikovsky Competition
  • Enescu Competition
  • BBC New Generation Artist
  • Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award

Biography

Hailed as an "unrivaled musician" by Le Figaro, Anastasia Kobekina captivates audiences with her stunning musicality, multi-layered interpretations, and charismatic stage presence. She is the recipient of the 2024 Leonard Bernstein Award.

In May 2023, Anastasia signed an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical. Her debut album Venice was released in February 2024, followed by the prestigious Opus Klassik Award in October 2024. Her next album, featuring the solo cello suites by J.S. Bach, is set to be released in September 2025. In February 2025, the German broadcaster ARD released a four-part documentary about her titled Anastasia Kobekina – Jetzt oder nie (“Now or Never”).

She made her acclaimed BBC Proms debut in 2024 with the Czech Philharmonic under Jakub Hrůša, performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. In 2025, she returns to the Royal Albert Hall for two more appearances: on August 8 in From Dark Till Dawn, curated by Anna Lapwood, and on September 10 with Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto, performed alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Delyana Lazarova.

In 2024, Anastasia was the focus artist of the Rheingau Music Festival. In 2025, she will serve as Artist-in-Residence at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Beethovenfest Bonn.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season include performances with the Czech Philharmonic under Semyon Bychkov, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Iván Fischer, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

A special highlight will be the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Bryce Dessner, written especially for Anastasia.

Her performances have taken her to leading venues and festivals worldwide, including Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lincoln Center, Konzerthaus Vienna, Berlin Philharmonie, Tonhalle Zürich, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the Verbier Festival.

She has worked with renowned conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Paavo Järvi, Jakub Hrůša, Krzysztof Penderecki, Heinrich Schiff, Omer Meir Wellber, Vasily Petrenko, Charles Dutoit.

Anastasia is a prizewinner at international competitions including the Tchaikovsky Competition (2019) and the Enescu Competition (2016). From 2018 to 2021, she was a BBC New Generation Artist and received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2022.

Born in Russia, Anastasia began cello lessons at the age of four. She studied with Frans Helmerson and Jens-Peter Maintz in Germany, with Jérôme Pernoo in Paris, and completed her baroque cello studies with Kristin von der Goltz in Frankfurt. She performs on a 1717 “Bonamy Dobree-Suggia" cello by Antonio Stradivari, generously loaned by the Stradivari Foundation Habisreutinger-Huggler-Coray.

Activity

Festivals / Seasons
  • BBC Proms
  • Royal Albert Hall
  • BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
  • focus artist of the Rheingau Music Festival
  • Artist-in-Residence at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
  • Beethovenfest Bonn
  • Konzerthausorchester Berlin
  • Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
  • Mahler Chamber Orchestra
  • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Philharmonia Orchestra
  • BBC Philharmonic
  • The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Media

Projects

Next

World premiere of a new cello concerto by Bryce Dessner, written especially for Anastasia.

Thierry Escaich - world premier of the “Symphonic poem” for Violoncello and Orchestra inspired by Van Gogh and Renoir paintings.

Chamber music projects

Recitals with Swiss pianist and composer Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula.

Works by Boulanger, Brahms, Rachmaninov

Other Projects

The German broadcaster ARD released a four-part documentary about her titled Anastasia Kobekina – Jetzt oder nie (“Now or Never”).

In their own words

What does music mean to you?

Music is a way for me to understand myself and to connect with others on a deeper level.

What does studying with Jérôme Pernoo meant to you?

Inspiring, endless of ideas, full of energy... Each lesson with this teacher is special and every single time I learn something of what I’ve never heard before.

What is your favorite repertoire?

I don’t want to limit myself to one style — I want to explore everything that speaks to me.

Our students and alumni

Other artists

Filip Krzeszowiec
  • 1st Prize – International Michał Spisak Competition in Dąbrowa Górnicza
  • 1st Prize – International Bach Solo Competition in Poznań
  • 1st Prize – Kazimierz Wiłkomirski Youth International Cello Competition
  • 1st Prize – 23th International Competition Talents for Europe in Dolny Kubin
  • 1st Prize – Jan Vychytil Cello Competition GMHS Prague
Tatsuki Sasanuma
  • 1st Prize & NHK Award – Student Music Concours of Japan
  • 1st Prize – Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Music Competition
  • 2nd Prize – Tokyo Music Competition
  • Prize – Music Competition of Japan
  • 3rd Prize – ARD International Music Competition (string quartet)
  • Award – Kirishima International Music Festival

Marina Martins
  • First Prize – Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition
  • Exilarte Preis – Austria
  • Young Soloists Competition Prize – São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra
  • Eleazar de Carvalho Medal