Klaudio Zoto
The 22-year-old Albanian cellist Klaudio Zoto showed remarkable musical talent at the age of six when he began his studies under the guidance of Prof. Ridvana Selita. His exceptional abilities were recognised early on through successes in national and international competitions. In 2022, at the age of 18, he was the youngest participant in the renowned Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
After studying with Antonio Meneses at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona, he further developed his musical skills in masterclasses at the Kronberg Academy with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt and Jens Peter Maintz, as well as at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Since September 2021, he has been studying with Prof. Gregor Horsch at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf, where he will continue his master's studies starting in October 2025.
In March 2025, Klaudio Zoto performed Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations with the National Theatre for Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Tirana, conducted by Sergio Alapont.
With his ensemble Trio Capriccio, he will be part of the renowned Best of NRW concert series for the 2025/2026 season, organised by the Dörken Foundation, with eleven concerts throughout North Rhine-Westphalia.
He is a recipient of the 2023/24 Germany Scholarship from Live Music Now Rhein-Ruhr and the Villa Musica Rhineland-Palatinate Foundation.
As winner of third prize at the Sieghardt Rometsch Competition, Klaudio performed alongside Belgian pianist Victoria Nava in the Robert Schumann Hall, as well as for the WDR 3 Campus concert series. He was invited to perform at the opening concert of the Schumann House Düsseldorf in the Palais Wittgenstein and at the Heinrich Heine Institute. He was awarded the audience prize at the ‘Debüt um 11’ concert series at the Ruhrfestspielhaus Recklinghausen.
In November 2024, he was a finalist and received an honourable mention at the prestigious Pau Casals Award in El Vendrell, Spain.
The long-standing collaboration with Albanian composer Aleksandër Peçi was honoured with the dedication of a cello concerto to Klaudio, which premiered in 2024 with the Albanian National Opera Orchestra under Nicolo Jacopo Suppa. Peçi also dedicated a cello sonata to him, which won first prize at the Reate Festival's contemporary music competition in 2021. Together with pianist Etrita Ibrahimi, Klaudio has recorded two CDs of Peçi's works.
He has been a guest at festivals such as Pianodrom, Chopin Piano Fest, Kosovo Kamerfest, Vox Baroque Festival, Reate Festival and Orizzonti Verticali. In 2021, he performed at the opening concert of the Stauffer Centre for Strings in Cremona alongside Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna and Franco Petracchi. In the same year, he played J. S. Bach's cello suites in the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna.
At just 15 years of age, he performed Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Albanian National Opera Orchestra under the baton of Ricardo Casero – a milestone in his career.
In August 2019, he was the principal cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Young and performed under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado and with artists such as Julian Rachlin and Detlev Glanert in venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Flagey Brussels.
In 2018, Klaudio was a finalist in the TV show Virtuozët, hosted by soprano Inva Mula, and won the Albanian Young Musicianscompetition in the same year, representing Albania for the first time at Eurovision Young Musicians. He gained further inspiration from masterclasses with Gautier Capuçon, Jens-Peter Maintz, David Geringas and Anssi Karttunen.
Translated by Daniel Höhr