Julian Steckel is widely praised as one of the leading cellists of our time. In 2010, Julian Steckel played his way to first prize in the ARD International Music Competition, also winning the Audience Award, the Oehms Classic Award as well as the prize of the Münchner Kammerorchester. 
His list of prizes is long: prior to receiving the above accolades, he won prizes at the Grand Prix Rostropovich in Paris, the Grand Prix Feuermann in Berlin and Pablo Casals Competition in Kronberg. In 2012, Julian Steckel was awarded the much coveted ECHO Klassik for his recording of the cello concertos of Korngold and Goldschmidt as well as Bloch’s Schelomo (with AVI music) alongside the Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz under Daniel Raiskin.

Today, Julian Steckel receives worldwide critical acclaim for his masterful, authentic interpretations, regularly performing with leading orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Munich Philharmonic, Gothenborg Symphony, Orchestre de Paris Rotterdam, Helsinki Philharmonic, Sankt Petersburg Philharmonic and many European and German Radio Symphony Orchestras. He has partnered with eminent conductors such as Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Fabien Gabel, Jakub Hrusa,  Gustavo Gimeno, Mario Venzago, Heinrich Schiff, Andrey Boreyko, John Storgårds, und Michael Sanderling.

In addition to his work as a soloist, Julian Steckel dedicates a substantial part of his time to chamber music. In numerous concerts he can be heard alongside leading fellow musicians such as Janine Jansen, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Renaud Capucon, Veronika Eberle, Lena Neudauer, Vilde Frang, Antoine Tamestit, Gustav Rivinius, Lars Vogt, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Menahem Pressler und Denis Kozhukhin. A number of the foremost chamber music ensembles also value collaborating with the talented cellist including, among others, the Quatuor Ebène and the Armida and Modigliani Quartets, with whom Julian Steckel performed at major festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals, Beethovenfest Bonn, and the festivals of Ludwigsburg, Moritzburg, Schwetzingen, Spannungen Heimbach, Zermatt, and Mondsee. 

Partnered with pianist Paul Rivinius, Julian Steckel has released a number of recordings to much critical acclaim. His latest CD of all C.P.E. Bach cello concertos together with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has been released in March 2016. 

In the current season Julian Steckel is making his US-debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and is also a guest with the Louisiana Philharmonic New Olreans. He will be following re-invitations of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Konzerthaus Vienna and can also be heard on tour in Antwerpen, Bern, Bilbao, Beirut, Madrid, Hong Kong, Seoul, Schloss Elmau and his home town of Pirmasens. 

Julian Steckel studied with Ulrich Voss, Gustav Rivinius, Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff and Antje Weithaas. He is a professor of cello at Munich University of Music and Performing Arts. He plays instrumentes Andrea Guarneri (Cremona 1685) and Urs Mächler (Speyer 2005) and enjoys living in Berlin.