Gundula Leitner

Cellist/Austria

Born in Linz, Upper Austria to a musical family, Gundula studied cello from 1997 to 2013 under the guidance of professors Wilfried Tachezi, Enrico Bronzi and Clemens Hagen at Mozarteum Salzburg, graduating with distinction.  Gundula attended post-graduate chamber music studies (2013-2015) at the Music University Vienna with Prof. Johannes Meissl, as well as master classes with eminent cellists Heinrich Schiff, Maria Kliegel, and Wolfgang Boettcher.  Winner of the First Prize at the “Prima la Musica” in Salzburg (2001), Gundula continued garnering international prizes, including Third and Special Prize at the International Alpen-Adria Wettbewerb in Gorizia, Italy (2003-2004), and Third Prize at the Enrico Mainardi Wettbewerb in Salzburg, Austria (2012).  Gundula performs regularly as a chamber musician throughout Europe and was featured as a soloist in the Haydn Concerto, Haydn Concertante, Beethoven Triple Concerto, Boccherini Concerto, Tschaikovsky Rokoko-Variations with orchestras including Tonkünstler Orchester Wien,Pro Musica Salzburg, and Sinfonieorchester of Mozarteum Salzburg.  She has performed in prestigious festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival, Salzburg Festival, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Bergerac Festival and many more, with renowned musicians such as Barbara Bonney, Sophie Pacini, Fazil Say, Marian Migdal and Martin Grubinger.  As an orchestral musician, she was the youngest talent to be offered a fixed contract with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg (2009), played regularly in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015 and, since 2016, has been a Guest Principal Cellist of the Royal Opera in Brussels.  In the past years, she has performed under conductors such as Zubin Metha, Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Mariss Jansons, Yannick Nezet Seguin, and others.