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Charlotte

Melkonian

Cello | Fellow

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Katerina Kanavaki

+49 30 5213702-23
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Charlotte Melkonian

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Charlotte Melkonian is one of the most remarkable young cello talents, distinguished by exceptional musical maturity, technical brilliance, and a distinctive artistic voice. Born in 2013, she is the youngest scholarship holder of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein, where she regularly takes part in intensive music weeks and academy programmes. She is also among the youngest scholarship recipients of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Despite her young age, Charlotte has achieved numerous top distinctions at national and international competitions, including First Prize with maximum points at “Jugend musiziert” in the categories cello solo, chamber music duo, and chamber music trio; First Prize and the Special Prize of the European Circle of Friends Berlin at the International Young Ludwig Competition; First Prize with distinction at the Hamburg Instrumental Competition; First Prize at the International Geringas Cello Competition in Klaipėda, Lithuania; and First Prize at the I. Grunewald International Music Competition in Berlin. She has also received the Chamber Music Prize of the “Jugend musiziert” Foundation of Lower Saxony.

Her concert appearances have taken her to major venues including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and the Berlin Philharmonie, as well as leading festivals such as the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, the Hohenems Chamber Music Festival, the Sion Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling, the Gezeiten Festival, and the Usedom Music Festival.

As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras including the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Sion Festival Orchestra, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, and the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York as soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Highlights of recent seasons include performances with pianist Igor Levit at the Heidelberger Frühling Festival and at the anniversary concert of the Institute for Early Advancement in Hanover, a duo recital with pianist Elisabeth Brauß at Heidelberger Frühling 2026, and appearances under the direction of David Geringas at the Berlin Philharmonie. In September 2026, she is scheduled to open the Usedom Music Festival under the baton of Robert Trevino, with further performances in Meran and Verona.

She began playing the cello at the age of four and received her early musical training at the Cello Academy Hamburg and at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Armenia. Since April 2022, she has been enrolled in the pre-college programme for highly gifted young musicians at the Institute for the Early Advancement of Musically Gifted Students at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. Since 2023, she has also been a junior student at the Berlin University of the Arts in the cello class of Professor Jens Peter Maintz.

She has participated in masterclasses with distinguished musicians including Philippe Muller, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Jens Peter Maintz, and David Geringas, and continues to receive ongoing artistic mentorship from Geringas. Following her success at the 2026 German Musical Instrument Fund competition, she was granted the use of a cello made by Stefano Scarampella in Mantua circa 1900.