Carlo Lay

Cellist Carlo Lay is a laureate of national and international competitions such as the Flame Competition in Paris and the Beethoven Bonnensis competition, and he won the sponsorship award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Lay is currently studying with Danjulo Ishizaka at the Universität der Künste Berlin and with Sol Gabetta at the Musikakademie Basel. He completed his bachelor’s degree with Leonid Gorokhov at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in June 2022.

He has been a soloist with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, the WDR Orchestra and the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen and has performed at numerous festivals, including Beethovenfest Bonn, Brussels Cello Festival, Kronberg Academy, International Mendelssohn Festival, and Schumannfest Bonn. Concert tours as a soloist and chamber musician have taken him to Europe, Asia, and the United States.

As a former cellist of the Avin Trio, Lay is a passionate chamber musician. He is a laureate of the Anton Rubinstein Competition for Chamber Music and, together with the Avin Trio, has been part of a virtual reality video production, which was nominated for an Opus Klassic Award 2022.

Further musical inspiration and stimuli have come from Igor Levit, Daniel Hope, Donald Weilerstein, Frans Helmerson, Philippe Muller, Ivan Monighetti, Jens Peter Maintz, and members of the Kuss Quartett, Vogler Quartett, and Atos Trio. Lay holds a scholarship from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the Bischöfliche Studienförderung Cusanuswerk, the Janssen Stiftung, and the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. He plays an Angelo Toppani cello from 1733 provided by the Andarta Foundation.

Carlo Lay’s fellowship is generously sponsored by Bill and Susan Hopkins.