The final audition of the Pablo Casals International Award 2022 took place last Friday November 16th in the auditorium of the Tívoli of the Escola Municipal de Música Pau Casals del Vendrell (EMMPAC). The jury was made up of internationally renowned cellists Ophélie Gaillard, Danjulo Ishizaka, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Arnau Tomàs. Bernard Meillat, musical advisor of the Foundation, acted as secretary of the jury.
Arne Jesper Zeller (Germany, 2006) began playing the cello at the age of six. Initially, he was trained by Moritz Reutlinger (Trier) and Daniel Geiss (Music Department of the University of Mainz), and at the age of fourteen, he joined the pre-university class of Professor Peter Bruns at the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig.
He is a prize winner in national and international competitions, including the First Prize at the Anna Kull International Cello Competition in Graz (2020), the First Prize at the Gustav Mahler International Cello Competition (2022), and the Second Prize at the 29th Brahms International Competition in Pörtschach (2023).
At the age of fifteen, Arne was selected as an active participant in cello masterclasses at the Kronberg Academy with Professor Frans Helmerson and received a scholarship for further lessons there. In 2024, he was chosen to participate as a Junior in the “Chamber Music Connects the World” Festival.
He is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig (Germany) with Professor Peter Bruns.