“Flawless intonation ... an intimacy of expression” – Susanne Szambelan, the Polish cellist from Berlin

Susanne Szambelan was born in New York in 1993. She grew up in Poznań, where she began learning piano aged five before later switching to the cello. At just 15, she made her début with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania. This was followed by solo performances throughout Europe, including with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra (Orkiestra Filharmonii Poznańskiej) and the Orchestra of the Capital Royal City of Kraków (Orkiestra Stołecznego Królewskiego Miasta Krakowa) “Sinfonietta Cracovia”.

Susanne Szambelan began studying music in 2012, when she joined the cello class of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music (Akademia Muzyczna im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego) in Kraków. During this period, she recorded a solo album with pieces by Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, directed by Robert Kabara and accompanied by the “Sinfonietta Cracovia”. The album was released under the DUX label in 2013. On the “Pizzicato” website, the highly regarded music critic Remy Frank had nothing but praise for the album: “Here, flawless intonation, impeccable grasp of the colour palette and dynamic, a nobility of tone and intimacy of expression are perfectly combined. It’s been a long time since I last heard such a gripping interpretation of the Dvořák concerto”[1]. In his review, he described Szambelan as “a world-class cellist”.

In 2014, she moved to Berlin, where she began studying under Stephan Forck and later under Claudio Bohórquez at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.

Her passion for chamber music led to collaborations with artists such as Boris Brovtsyn, Daniel Hope, Noah Bendix-Balgley, the Vogler Quartet and to frequent performances with the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. From 2021–2024, she received a scholarship for the prestigious Academy for Chamber Music (Akademie für Kammermusik) of the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. She has also performed at festivals such as Krzyżowa-Music, Zermatt Music Festival, Plush and Encuentro de Música in Santander. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Lyatoshynsky Trio and the interdisciplinary ensemble menajiri.

During the 2022/2023 season, she was a scholarship holder at the Kurt-Sanderling-Akademie of the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra. There, she was able to gain experience working with a professional symphony orchestra directed by conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach and Iván Fischer.

In 2021, at the invitation of Daniel Hope, Susanne Szambelan performed for Poland as part of the “Europe@Home” ARTE concert series. In 2023, she gave a solo recital at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, which consisted exclusively of works by Polish composers.

In 2022, she recorded a second album, “dichter.liebe” in collaboration with the guitarist Jerzy Chwastyk, which included songs by Robert Schumann interpreted for cello and guitar. The music is accompanied by selected poems by Heinrich Heine, read by the German actor Hanns Zischler. The album was released on the Prospero Classical label and was nominated for the OPUS KLASSIK 2023 prize.

Projects such as “dichter.liebe” and “Kodály Reframed” (performed as a duet with the saxophonist Hayden Chisholm) reflect the versatility of the cellist and her constant search for new forms of expression.

 

Monika Stefanek, March 2025

 

Interview with Susanne Szambelan
 

The first thing that stands out in your CV is your place of birth – New York. Do you have American roots?

- No, it was pure coincidence that I was born in New York. My parents had emigrated there with my brothers in order to work in the US. They went back to Poland three years later. It was while they were in the US that I was born. That’s why I also have US citizenship. I grew up in Poznań, however, where I lived until I was 19. Then I moved to Kraków for university.

How old were you when classical music first entered your life?

- Thanks to my mother, I began learning piano when I was five. It was then that I met the wonderful teacher Professor Mirosława Preuschoff-Kaźmierczakowa, who discovered and fostered my passion for music. What she taught me then is still deeply engrained in my heart today. She was the person who encouraged me to take up a string instrument after learning piano for a year, saying that this would give me more opportunities.

What opportunities does the cello have to offer that the piano doesn’t?

- Cellists can play in orchestras and string quartets, for example. I began playing the cello out of curiosity, and I knew straight away that this was it. Even though I was only six years old, I sensed that I had a special connection with this instrument. For two years, I learned both instruments in parallel, and devoted myself equally to both before deciding to focus on the cello. I remember hearing a piece for cello in the car that moved me very deeply. That was about a year after I had started playing cello. I think that was the moment when I consciously thought for the first time that this was my instrument. I don’t remember which piece it was. But I can still recall the feelings today that came up when I heard it.

You yourself are a professional cellist, and your mother plays piano. Is the rest of your family also musical?

- My father is an architect. I know that my grandfather on my mother’s side, whom I sadly never got to meet, was musically talented. My grandfather on my father’s side also played guitar. Music was therefore certainly present in my life. I have my mother to thank for the fact that I was able to turn it into a profession. Even so, I think that both my parents equally influenced me in my development. My father often took me to museums and made sure that I had access to artistic inspiration from all possible sides. I travelled regularly between Poznań and Łódź for lessons with the wonderful Professor Stanisław Firlej. My parents offered the best possible environment for me to enable me to dedicate myself to music. That definitely bore fruit.

You moved to Kraków in order to study there, but ultimately, you ended up living in Berlin. Did Kraków fail to meet your expectations?

- In many ways, I had a wonderful time studying in Kraków. However, after a while, I noticed that I was unable to develop my full potential there. Then I heard about the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. I was told that it was difficult to get a place to study there, but I decided to try anyway. I regarded it as a challenge; I had nothing to lose. This decision turned my entire life upside down. In 2014, I moved to Berlin almost overnight and have since settled here.

My feeling is that the cello is an extremely feminine instrument.Would you agree?

- Good question. I think that slowly, it’s becoming more balanced. It used to be the case that the most highly regarded musicians were mainly men. But that was true for every other area of life, too. It wasn’t just in music that men dominated. Now, the cello is becoming more female-dominated to a certain degree. A similar pattern can be seen in other professions, too, though. Even so, I think that in today’s musical world, no-one cares whether an instrument is played by a man or a woman. And that’s a good thing.

Is it hard being a professional musician as a woman?

- I think it’s getting easier and easier. I can still remember stories from a few years ago. Female friends of mine applied for jobs with an orchestra and were asked during the final, decisive interview whether they were planning to have children. And even if this question isn’t explicitly asked during a job interview, it hangs in the air, it’s palpably present. Sometimes, it unfortunately happens that in an orchestra, women turn on other women. Then you’re on very thin ice. You need to actively tone down your attractive physical features so that they don’t mask your musical abilities and become the thing that people notice most about you. On the other hand, musicians are also supposed to have a certain amount of charisma on stage. Currently, classical music focuses very strongly on social media, and there, how you look plays a huge role. Posts which don’t show the face of the person playing don’t attract any clicks. Users often don’t even read the image captions. The focus is entirely on visual aspects. How you look is therefore of key importance, and a lot of musicians build up their image on this basis. For me personally, it’s most important to be in harmony with yourself and to stand up for certain values.

You have been in the world of music for nearly 20 years now. Do you sometimes doubt yourself? Do you occasionally think that you’d much rather do something entirely separate from music? Or have you sometimes had thoughts like these in your life?

- No, this isn’t something I need. Of course, like all musicians, I go through all kinds of phases. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes worse; we fall down and pick ourselves up, like a wave. You need to tell yourself that it’s all part of a process. That you simply need to get through the more difficult times, because better days will follow, and you’ll feel more comfortable again in your own skin and with your own music. But of course, I also have other interests outside music.

What do you do in your free time?

- I love going to the cinema and watching good films. Berlin is the perfect place to be in that respect. Recently, I threw myself into a new adventure: ultramarathons! I’ve already run two. It was a massive challenge. But the human body is incredible, since it learns very quickly. With ultramarathons, your mental attitude plays a huge role, because you have to overcome your own weakness. It’s also an excellent test of stamina. You find out just how much you’re able to achieve and how you overcome crises. Not only that, running these marathons is a wonderful adventure, especially because of the fabulous views in the mountains.

Let’s return to Berlin. How did people receive you when you arrived here?

- I felt at home here right from the start, although of course, it was a culture shock to some degree. I met people from all walks of life, all in one place, and that’s exactly why I felt that I belong here. There was a lot that was new and fascinating. Berlin opened up new perspectives for me, and expanded my horizon. I started going to concerts, as well as experimental events and plays. I still do that today. That’s why I love living here: this city surprises you time and time again.

What about your musical reception?

- At the university, I was assigned to a wonderful professor, Stephan Forck. He devoted a lot of his time to teaching me. I completed my bachelor’s degree under him. On the one hand, I got to know the city, and on the other, I spent hours working in the practice room. This was an absolute priority, as I had to catch up on a lot of things. People have a very different attitude towards music here.

What is the difference?

- In Poland, I studied under Dominik Połoński, who placed a great deal of emphasis on individuality. Of course, that’s very important. But I was lacking an analytical approach, the ability not only to feel the music, but also to understand it. Here, the musical material is taken much more seriously. You work systematically on every accent, every notation mark. At the university in Berlin, the main focus was on practising pieces and expanding your own repertoire. By contrast, in Kraków, I was given an excellent education in music theory with outstanding teachers who taught their subjects with passion.

Where do you feel most comfortable, playing chamber music or in a large orchestra?

- Definitely playing chamber music. I already dreamed of doing just that when I was a teenager. At that time, I was inspired by the Hagen Quartet from Salzburg, whom I still really admire today. I have been madly in love with chamber music ever since hearing one of their albums for the first time. It has a very special place in my heart. Recently, I joined the “Lyatoshynsky Trio” piano trio, and now have my own ensemble. I’m still dreaming of playing in a quartet, though.

How is your repertoire decided? How much influence do you have over which pieces you perform?

- That depends on several factors. If it’s a project that I have initiated myself, then of course, I decide what to play. But if I’m invited to perform at an event, the situation is very different. What I love most about being a freelancer is the variety of the work. I like being involved in different projects in totally different areas of classical music.

What are you currently working on?

- At the moment, I’m investing most of my love and energy in the “Kodály Reframed” project. The focus of the project is the “Sonata for Solo Cello” by Zoltán Kodály. This Hungarian composer created so many works based on folk music and these influences can be clearly heard in the sonata. Through my collaboration with the wonderful saxophonist Hayden Chisholm from the jazz world, we were able to extend the sonata with an improvisation. I am incredibly enthusiastic about the project. This combination is so unusual and exciting. We’re definitely going to continue with the project after getting a very positive reception from audiences in Germany and New Zealand. I’m also involved in the “ensemble menajiri” interdisciplinary project, which was initiated by Michaela Catranis, an outstanding composer. We’re working on a completely new concerto form which will be premièred this year. Michaela’s composition will be an unusual journey, a kind of “road concert”. The audience will have the opportunity to walk among the musicians and experience the music through different senses. The central motif is the close interrelationship between people and their subconscious and nature.

Have you tried composing yourself?

- No, I’ve never felt the need. I absolutely love improvising, though, and am trying to develop my skills further in this direction.

Who are your favourite composers?

- That’s a hard question to answer. The first names that come into my head are Ludwig van Beethoven and Béla Bartók. Their works move me very deeply when I hear them played live. Recently, though, I went to a concert in the Hamburger Bahnhof (a former railway station turned arts venue – translator’s note), where music by Gérard Grisey was played. One piece, “Le noir de l’étoile”, was written for solo percussion. The thousand people in the audience sat on the floor and were surrounded from all sides by the musicians. The piece is about the universe, and it literally transported us into another dimension. There are composers, like Grisey, who can really enthral an audience, even if they’re not nearly as well-known or haven't garnered as many accolades as Beethoven, for example.

One of the most unusual projects that you’ve been involved in so far is Musethica. What was this project about, and what made it so special?

- It was a fantastic project, in which chamber music was played in unusual locations – for audiences who couldn’t make it to a traditional concert. For example, we played for hospital patients and people with disabilities, as well as prisoners. We performed in front of a huge range of different people. Sometimes, we played for people knowing that this would be the last concert of their lives – or, in other cases, their first concert. It was incredibly emotional, and it was one of the most formative experiences of my life.

In Berlin and throughout Germany as a whole, there are an increasing number of classical musicians with Polish roots. How are they received by the institutions involved and by audiences?

- What I generally love about Berlin and Germany is that here, it’s your skill that counts for most, and not where you come from or who you know. When Polish musicians attract acclaim here, then it’s because they’ve earned it through their skill and outstanding playing, and not because of where they come from.

 

The interview was conducted by Monika Stefanek, March 2025

 

The artist’s website: https://susanneszambelan.com/