From the age of four, Marcel Johannes Kits showed a great interest in the cello. He began his training in Tallinn, then continued his studies in Germany under Francis Gouton and Jens Peter Maintz. He has mostly performed in his home country, Estonia, and in Europe, (at the Elbphilharmonie, the Boulez Saal, and the Berliner Philharmonie, among other venues) and has also played in St Petersburg, Moscow, and Israel. He has also appeared as a guest at, among other events, the Olympus Festival and the Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He won first prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria in 2016 and at the Enescu Competition in Romania in 2018 and was a semi-finalist of the ARD International Music Competition in 2019. Passionate about chamber music, he has played in a trio since he was nine years old with Robert Traksmann and Rasmus Andreas Raide, with whom he has recorded numerous CDs for the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the foundation that loans him the Francesco Ruggieri cello he plays.

Teachers

2018 - : Prof. Jens Peter Maintz
2014 - 2018 : Prof. Francis Gouton
2011 - 2014 : Mart Laas
2002 - 2011 : Laine Leichter

Degrees

2019 - : Master of Music, Berlin University of the Arts
2018 - 2019 : Bachelor of Music, Berlin University of the Arts
2014 - 2018 : Unfinished Bachelor's degree, University of Music Trossingen
2002 - 2014 : High school diploma, Tallinn Music High School

Concerts

2021 : Estonia concert hall, Tallinn, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts
2020 : Great hall of Konzerthaus Berlin, Young Euro Classic, Solo
2020 : Estonia concert hall, Tallinn, MustonenFest Tallinn, Novosibirsk Chamber Orchestra, Andres Mustonen
2020 : Estonia concert hall, Tallinn, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky
2019 : Prinzregententheater, Munich, ARD competition, Munich Chamber Orchestra
2019 : Grand hall of St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Musical Olympus Festival, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Yuwon Kim
2019 : Blackheads House, Tallinn, Tallinn Philharmonic Society, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tõnu Kaljuste
2018 : Romanian Athanaeum, Bucharest, George Enescu competition, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Watkins
2018 : Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Festival Spiegel im Spiegel, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Andres Mustonen
2018 : Henry Crown hall of Jerusalem Theatre, MustonenFest Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Andres Mustonen

Competitions

2018 : Semifinalist, ARD competition
2018 : 1. prize, George Enescu competition (Romania)
2016 : 1. prize, Johannes Brahms competition (Austria)
2015 : 1. prize, Estonian National String competition