Wolfgang Boettcher


Wolfgang Boettcher is a German classical cellist.

Life and career

Born in Berlin, Boettcher was trained by Richard Klemm. In 1958 he won second prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich together with his elder sister, the Mannheim pianist Ursula Trede-Boettcher. Until 1976 he was second principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1976 he took over a professorship at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, now the Berlin University of the Arts.
Boettcher is a founding member of the ensemble The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Brandis Quartet. From 1986 to 1992 he was artistic director of the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker and professor at the "Carl Flesch Akademie Baden-Baden". 1988 he became a member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste.
His students include Jan Diesselhorst, who was also a member of the ensemble "The 12 Cellists", and Dietmar Schwalke.
Together with his two sisters, Ursula at the piano and Marianne at the violin, Boettcher continues to give concerts even in his old age. He is married to Regina Vollmar, the niece of his godfather uncle Eberhard Preußner, with whom he has a son and four daughters, including the actress.

Publications