Anja Lechner

Cellist Anja Lechner was born in Kassel, Germany, and studied with Heinrich Schiff and János Starker. Though her roots are classical – she speaks of coming from “a land of forgotten folksongs” where childhood melodies were supplied by Bach, Schubert, and Schumann – her musical interests span the globe and embrace a wide range of improvisational traditions. She has described the appeal of folk music as springing from its “abundance of songs, songs that tell stories”. Anja Lechner’s projects for ECM include a long-running artistic collaboration with Argentine bandoneonist-composer Dino Saluzzi (“El Encuentro”, “Navidad de los Andes”, “Ojos negros” and, with the Rosamunde Quartet, “Kultrum”); music by composer-philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff (“Chants, Hymns and Dances”), a recording made in partnership Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos which topped the US classical charts; and, with French pianist François Couturier, music by Komitas, Mompou, and Gurdjieff. From 1992 until it disbanded 18 years later, Lechner was the cellist of the Munich-based Rosamunde Quartet, whose acclaimed ECM New Series recordings include music by Mansurian, Schoeck, Larcher, Webern, Shostakovich, Burian, Haydn, and Yoffe.