SEBASTIAN DÖRFLER

Sebastian was born in 1966 and was six years old when he recieved his first cello lessons from his father. After a short period he became a member of the family string-quartet. Sebastian graduated with distinction from such renowned centers as the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and the "Hochschule der Künste" in Berlin. His teachers were Cris Campbell, Steven Doane, Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Harvey Shapiro, Wolfgang Boettcher, Georg Faust and the members of the Cleveland Quartet.

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Sebastian's orchestral career began already while studying at Eastman, where he played regularely in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. While attending the "Karajan-Academy", he played in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for two years, thereafter being engaged by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 1995 he was appointed principal cellist of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, a position he held until 2019. He is now focusing on chamber music performance and teaching. 

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Sebastian has received "Fine Arts Awards" in cello and composition from the Interlochen Arts Academy, the performer's certificate from the Eastman School as well as prizes at the Competition for Orchestra-Musicians in Gernsbach and the Siegfried-Barchett Cello Competition in Stuttgart. In 1996 he won the distinguished Debut-prize from the Norwegian state.

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Besides being an active chamber musician , Sebastian has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Germany, Spain, USA and Norway under conductors such as Mario Venzago, Dimitrij Kitajenko, Simone Young, Marc Piollet, Michail Jurowski, Andrew Litton.