Stjepan Hauser


Stjepan Hauser is a Croatian cellist. He is a member of 2Cellos, along with Luka Šulić.

Early life and musical training

Hauser was born in Pula, Croatia, into a musical family, where he began his musical education. His mother plays percussion. He has a sister who is a journalist in Pula. Hauser finished secondary school in Rijeka. He studied in Zagreb and London, and later in the United States under Bernard Greenhouse.

Career

Hauser has performed in more than 40 countries across all the continents including successful debuts in Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Southbank Centre and many more. He is laureate of UK's international competitions and awards such as: PLG Young Artists Auditions 2009, J & A Beare Solo Bach Competition 2009, NYOS Staffa Award 2009, Philharmonia Orchestra – Martin Musical Scholarship Fund 2009 & 2008, Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition 2009 & 2007, Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition 2008 & 2006, Computers in Personnel International Concerto Competition 2008, Frankopan Fund Award 2006, and MBF Music Education Award 2006 & 2005. He is also a prize winner of international cello competitions and awards such as Adam International Cello Festival and Competition in New Zealand 2009, and VTB Capital Prize for Young Cellists 2009. All together Stjepan collected a total of 21 first prizes among national and international competitions and as a consequence, he was invited to perform twice on Gala concerts for H R H Prince Charles in Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace.
Hauser has worked with the most revered cellists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Greenhouse, Heinrich Schiff, Frans Helmerson, Arto Noras, Ralph Kirshbaum, Valter Despalj, Philippe Muller, Thomas Demenga, Young-Chang Cho, Reinhard Latzko, Karine Georgian, Roel Dieltiens, and Alexander Ivashkin, to mention a few. He completed his undergraduate studies with Natalia Pavlutskaya at Trinity College of Music, now Trinity Laban, London and postgraduate studies with Ralph Kirshbaum as a Dorothy Stone Scholar at RNCM in Manchester and with Bernard Greenhouse in USA.
In October 2006 Hauser was the only cellist chosen to perform in the gala concert at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence for the late Mstislav Rostropovich. Following the success of this appearance, Stjepan has been invited to perform at the most prestigious festivals in Europe. At the International Holland Music Sessions 2009, he was chosen to participate in the "New Masters on Tour" concert series, presenting young artists in prestigious concert venues all over Europe.
Together with the Slovenian violinist Lana Trotovsek and Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi, Hauser was a member of the renowned Greenwich Trio described by legendary cellist Bernard Greenhouse as the "New Beaux Arts Trio." The Trio won a series of first prizes in the international chamber music competitions in the UK, Belgium and Italy. The Greenwich Trio had masterclasses with Amadeus Quartet, Alban Berg Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Beaux Arts Trio, Trio Fontenay, Menahem Pressler, Bernard Greenhouse, Ivry Gitlis, Stephen Kovacevich, Ralf Gothoni, Niklas Schmidt, Arnold Steinhardt, Valentin Erben, and Eberhard Feltz. They performed in some of the most prestigious European international music festivals. In March 2008, they performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with conductor Barry Wordsworth and in September the same year they played in the sold out opening festival at King's Place, London.
Subsequently, Hauser went on to do solo work, to include his recording of British composer Christopher Ball's First Concerto for Cello, written by the composer specifically for him. The album, Christopher Ball: Music for Cello, was recorded at the first live performance of the concerto in 2010, and features former Greenwich Trio member, Yoko Misumi, on piano.
Additionally, on 11 June 2009 Hauser launched his channel on YouTube, which has since reached over 270 million views as of May 2020.
In January 2011, Hauser, along with friend and fellow cellist Luka Šulić, performed a cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" which was played solely on cello. In just a few days, the music video for this cover became a YouTube sensation.
Under the name 2Cellos, Hauser and Šulić recorded an album with Sony Music Entertainment, which was released in July 2011.
In early 2011, Hauser recorded an album with fellow Croatian Damir Urban. The album, the self-titled Urban and Hauser, was released in the summer of 2011. Also in the spring of 2011, he recorded an album with Croatian pop star Oliver Dragojević. The album, Noć nek' tiho svira, was released in October 2011. That fall, along with fellow 2CELLOS member Luka Šulić, he began touring as a member of the Elton John band. Since then, he has performed with the band hundreds of times, on tour all around the world, and in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the Million Dollar Piano concert performance at the Coliseum at Caesar's Palace. In November 2011, he released another classical album: Brahms, Beethoven & Bruch for Clarinet, Cello & Piano, again with Ms. Misumi, and clarinettist Leslie Craven.
In January 2012, they appeared as the special musical guests on Fox's hit TV series Glee where they performed "Smooth Criminal" in the Michael Jackson tribute episode. This was the first time that an instrumental duo had performed on the show in this coveted guest spot. The 2Cellos' arrangement of the song, which featured actors Grant Gustin and Naya Rivera, sold incredibly well debuting at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart and landing their debut album in the Top 100.
In May 2012, Hauser won four Porin awards, two with Luka Šulić, and the other two for his collaboration with Damir Urban on their album Urban & Hauser.
Hauser subsequently won an additional Porin award, for Best Video Release, along with Luka Šulić and Dušan Kranjc for their Arena Zagreb DVD.
In late 2012 and early 2013, a second 2CELLOS album, In2ition, was released.
Since the release of the second album, he spends most of his time touring, either as a member of 2CELLOS, or with Elton John. A third album was released in early 2015 called Celloverse, just prior to a 38-city US tour.
2CELLOS fourth album, a collection of movie music, was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and released in 2017. The first live performance was held in December 2016, at the Sydney Opera House and is available on DVD.
2CELLOS fifth album, Let There Be Cello, was released in 2018.
Stjepan Hauser's latest debut album Hauser Classic'' was released on 7 February 2020, in which he plays alongside the London Symphony Orchestra.
During the COVID-19 quarantine, unable to tour in support of his solo album, Hauser released two performances via live streaming. The first, "Hauser: Alone Together," released on 27 April 2020 was performed at the Arena Pula, in Stjepan's hometown of Pula, Croatia. The second, also titled "Hauser: Alone Together," was performed at Krka National Park, at the Krka Waterfalls. The second video was released on 15 June 2020, to celebrate the artist's 34th birthday.

Awards

Orders