Draft:Raphaela Gromes

Raphaela Gromes (March 16, 1991 -) is a female cellist from Germany.

Biography
She was born in Munich, Germany and started learning the cello from her mother at the age of four. In 2005, she made her solo debut by playing the "Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra" composed by Friedrich Gulda. Since then, she has performed major cello concertos by Dvorak, Schumann, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens, Beethoven, Brahms and Elgar.

From 2006, Gromes studied with Peter Bruns at the University of Music and Theatre Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Leipzig, from 2010 with Wen-Sinn Yang at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, and later with Reinhard Latzko at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She also studied in master classes with renowned cellists such as David Geringas, Yo-Yo Ma, Frans Helmerson, Jens Peter Maintz, László Fenyö, Daniel Müller-Schott, Kristin von der Goltz, Wolfgang Boettcher, Anner Bylsma and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmid.

Her achievements include winning First Prize at the "2012 Richard Strauss Competition" and the "2016 Concorso Fiorindo Turin", and she was also awarded "German Music Competition Prize" in the solo cello category.

After making her first recording with Faro Classics in 2016, she has been an exclusive artist with Sony Classical and released her first album "Serenata Italians" with arranger and pianist Julian Riem in September 2017 consisting of a cello and piano duet pieces by late romantic composers like Giuseppe Martucci, Leone Sinigaglia, Ferruccio Busoni, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Praised by one of greatest cellists Yo-Yo Ma for her 'courageous curiosity and energy', she has since worked as a piano duo and recorded many of them with Riem.

In November 2018, Gromes released Sonny Classical's second album, "Hommage à Rossini", and in May 2019, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Jacques Offenbach's birth, she released a third album "Offenbach", which received an award "Opus Klassik 2020”, one of the prestigious awards of classical music in Germany, in the category chamber music/duo.

In February 2020, Gromes released the Cello Sonata of Richard Strauss (the first edition was a world premiere recording), and in October, she released the "Romantic Cello Concertos", which includes the "Cello Concerto in A minor"of Robert Schumann and the "Cello Concerto No. 3 in A minor"of Julius Klengel, which was also a world premiere recording.

In October 2021, Gromes released the album "Imagination", which includes a selection of pieces related to "fairy tales" as imaginative and story-based music. It includes a waltz of Tchaikovsky's ballet music "Sleeping Beauty", "Fairy Tale" by Robert Schumann and "Evening Prayer" by Engelbert Humperdinck from his famous fairy-tale operas "Hansel and Gretel".

In January 2023, Gromes released "Femmes", a collection of pieces by female composers such as Clara Schumann, Pauline García-Viardot, Amy Beach, Florence Price, Nadia Boulanger, Rachel Portman, and Lera Auerbach. Gromes said it will continue to focus its projects on female composers.

Gromes is also actively working on distribution through music streaming services, and its recordings range from "New Cinema Paradise" by Ennio Morricone from the same name’s Italian movie to "Merry Go Round of Life" by Joe Hisaishi from the Japanese animated movie “Howl’s Moving Castel” of STUDIO GHIBLI and "Beauty and the Beast" by Alan Menken from the same name’s animated movie of Walt Disney Pictures. As for the music arrangements by Julian Riem, in 2023, she distributed piano trio versions such as "Ma Mère l'Oye" by Maurice Ravel and "Vocalise" by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which commemorated the 150th anniversary of his birth, and in 2024, she distributed an EP consisting of six pieces with a duo of Chopin's Nocturnes in collaboration with an acclaimed pianist Olga Scheps.

Charitable activity
Gromes is a cultural ambassador for SOS Children's Villages worldwide and an ambassador for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation that was founded by the tenor José Carreras following his recovery.

Instrument
Gromes plays a cello by Carlo Bergonzi dating from around 1740 provided to her from a private source.

Recordings

 * Serenata Italiana (Sony Classical; 2017)
 * Hommage À Rossini (Sony Classical; 2018)
 * Offenbach (Sony Classical; 2019)
 * Richard Strauss Cello Sonatas (Sony Classical; 2020)
 * Romantic Cello Concertos (Sony Classical; 2020)
 * Imagination (Sony Classical; 2022)
 * Femmes (Sony Classical; 2023)
 * Animated Movie Classics (Sony Classical; 2023)
 * Chopin's Nocturnes (Sony Cl assical; 2024) [EP]