LUC TOOTEN

Luc Tooten was for more than fifteen years the first cello soloist of the Brussels Philharmonic. He studied at the Brussels Royal Conservatory with Carlo Schmitz and completed his education with Edmond Baeyens and Reine Flachot . He also attended the masterclasses of Gerhard Hamann, Anner Bijlsma and Mstislav Rostropovitch. After winning several international prizes, he made his debut as a soloist performing the Saint Saëns Cello Concerto with the Belgian Radio Symphony Orchestra. His performance of the Korngold Cello Concerto was broadcast by the VRT, the Flemish Television. His recording of the symphonic poem "Naar Hoger Licht ", a composition for cello-solo and orchestra by Lodewijk De Vocht, received a Choc award from the music periodical Monde de la Musique. In 2015 he was invited in Saint Petersburg to make a CD recording of the Triple Concerto of Beethoven with the St.-Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra. He performed as a soloist under the direction of conductors such as Andrej Borejko, Jan Latham-Koenig, Yoël Levy, Walter Proost, Alexander Rahbari and Tan Dun. At Tan Dun’s request, he played the Belgian premiere of the cello concerti Crouching Tiger and The Map. As a chamber musician he has performed in Europe, Israel, Canada, China, Mexico and the USA. Luc is a frequent guest at festivals where he performs with well-known musicians such as Martha Argerich, Boris Berezovsky, Ivry Gitlis, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Eliane Rodriguez, Paulina Leschenko, Michel Letiec, Frank Braley, Itamar Golan, Michael Guttman and Vadim Repin, ./.. He made many recordings for Pavane Records Belgium, such as Franz Liszt and Lalo's complete works for cello and piano, and also the sonatas by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saëns and Franz Schubert. Together with Trio Portici (Damien Pardoen, violin and Stéphane De May, piano) he recorded chamber music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Sergey Rachmaninov, George Onslow, Robert Schumann, César Franck and Franz Schubert. Kalidisc released also a CD with previously unpublished works by tango composers like José Bragato and Ástor Piazzolla. Luc Tooten plays on a Gagliano cello from Napoli.