Niels Ullner, studied with the Danish cellist Asger Lund Christiansen and completed his studies with Pierre Fournier, William Pleeth and Mstislav Rostropovich. Since his debut recital in Copenhagen in 1981, he has received a number of prestigious awards, namely the Jacob Gade Prize, the Artist Prize of the Danish Music Critics’ Society and the Memorial Prize of the Breuning-Bache String Quartet. Mr. Ullner was a member of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1985, and is currently the principal cellist of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra (Sweden). He has taught at the Music Academies in Copenhagen, Århus, Odense and Malmö since 1986, becoming an Associate Professor on the faculty of the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense (Denmark) in 2000. Internationally, Niels Ullner is a much sought-after teacher at master classes and as a judge in music competitions. Since 1999 he has been a permanent faculty member of the summer master class.”Danish Strings” and, since 2001, a permanent member of the jury in ”The International Duo Competition” in Katrineholm, Sweden. As of 2004, he is a member of the board of and a judge in ”The Danish String Competition.” In 2010 he will sit on the jury of “The International Cello Competition in Åbo, (Finland). Mr. Ullner has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Japan and in Cuba. He has been a member of several chamber music groups including The Danish String Quartet and Musica Danica, and has a permanent duo partnership with the Danish pianist, Anne Øland. In 1995 he was nominated for a Swedish Grammy award for his recording of the Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra by Gösta Nystroem with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi. Niels Ullner plays an instrument built in Cremona in 1667 by Francesco Ruggieri, which was purchased for him by the MSO 1992.

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