Johannes fell in love with the cello from the earliest moments when his parents played recordings of Yo-Yo Ma, Jacqueline du Pré, and Pablo Casals. He was born into a musical family so it seemed to him only natural to play an instrument as well. While accompanying his mother to a luthier to pick up strings for her violin, he saw for the first time a child-sized cello and asked if he could try. The deep rich sound of the C string called to him and from that moment on at age 2½, he never put the cello down.
age 3
meeting Yo-Yo Ma for the first time
At that age, it was playing in the literal sense of the word—as a child plays with his toy, Johannes approached the cello with delight and curiosity. He asked for the score to the Elgar concerto that he loved from du Pré and tried his hardest to learn a few notes per day. He dreamed of becoming a soloist and chamber musician like the cellists he idolised (he would sometimes wear sunglasses as he practiced so he would look like Yo-Yo Ma). This dream, though, was not born in the pursuit of fame, but with the will to share the joy of music that he felt from the cellists he looked up to. For Johannes, with their ability to shape sound and emotions through the cello, they were wizards.
Sharing music became his goal and Johannes played for anyone who would listen. He asked his parents when he was three to organise a house concert for the neighbours so he and his older sisters could play for people. This became a semi-annual tradition, which continued until he left for conservatory. His daily practice would include organising his stuffed animals into a semicircle and playing a concert for them. He even brought his cello to a zoo to play for a Screech Owl who he thought might appreciate some cello (it seemed that she did!).
Johannes’ first experience in front of an orchestra came at age five, when his sister was playing in a youth orchestra directed by their uncle. He had just learned the exposition of Saint-Saëns’ Concerto and asked if they would be willing to spare a few minutes of rehearsal to go through it with him. The thrill of that experience inspired him to dedicate himself further to his craft, yearning for the next opportunity to perform with an orchestra. That excitement has remained undimmed; even now, Johannes approaches each orchestral collaboration with the same childlike wonder and enthusiasm.
Johannes, his dad, and pianist
Shark duo with sister Erika
In his musical family, Johannes’ love for chamber music grew naturally, playing very often string quartets with his mother and two older sisters, as well as clarinet chamber repertoire occasionally with his father. He loved listening to wide ranges of repertoire, asking his family if they would play different pieces with him, and constructing the programs of their family house concerts. With his sister Erika they played together for many years, playing in multiple string quartets, one of which won the Gold Medal at the 2012 Fischoff Chamber music competition, and as well as occasionally playing a double concerto.
One of the most exciting moments of his early career came at age 14 when Johannes played four times with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His excitement was compounded by the fact that Yo-Yo Ma was performing with the Symphony during the same period. In the early afternoons, Johannes was playing Haydn’s C Major Concerto, and in the evenings, Yo-Yo was playing the Haydn D Major Concerto. They shared the same dressing room, had opportunities to speak together, and Yo-Yo allowed Johannes to play his “Davidoff” Stradivarius. This week was a dream come true for Johannes for so many reasons!
After his first Dvorak concerto, age 12