Sergei Istomin
Sergei Istomin () is a cellist and a viola da gamba player. He began his violoncello studies at the age of six at the Gnessin School for gifted children in Moscow, Russia, where he obtained his bachelor's degree (violoncello class of Mrs. V. Birina). He completed his master's degree at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of and then later his post-graduate studies with Catharina Meints Caldwell at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Oberlin, Ohio, USA) and August Wenzinger at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute (BPI). In 2018 he received his Doctor of Arts (Music ) degree at the Ghent University, Belgium. His doctoral thesis "Variations on a Rococo theme, Op.33: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Fitzenhagen: a creative collaboration. Moscow and Saint Petersburg violoncello schools in the light of European traditions: a historical and textological clarification" is in the field of historically informed performance practice and musicology. Sergei Istomin has performed solo and chamber music recitals in many European and North American Festivals. His repertoire includes baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary music on both period and modern instruments. Sergei Istomin has recorded for Sony Classical; Analekta, CBC (Canada), Centaur Records, Music and Arts Programs  of America (USA); Passacaille Records (Belgium) and Zig-Zag Territoires (France). Today Sergei Istomin lives in Belgium from where he continues his international career.