English Born in Zurich, Christian Poltera was a pupil of Nancy Chumachenco and Boris Pergamenschikow before studying with Heinrich Schiff in Salzburg and Vienna. He has given concerts worldwide with numerous leading orchestras and conductors. Recent highlights include performances with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/ Riccardo Chailly, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe/ Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival, the Orchestre de Paris/ Heinrich Schiff, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/ Paavo Järvi in Japan and the BBC Symphony Orchestra/ Sir Andrew Davis at the BBC Proms. Chamber music projects have brought him together with Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Leonidas Kavakos, Mitsuko Uchida, Kathryn Stott, Lars Vogt and Leif Ove Andsnes as well as the Auryn, Guarneri and Zehetmair Quartets. As a member of a newly formed string trio with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit he will give concerts in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Cologne and Milan among other cities. In 2004 he received a Borletti-Buitoni Award and was selected to be a BBC New Generation Artist. Appointed a European Concert Halls Organisation (ECHO) `Rising Star` during the 2006/07 season, Poltera, together with the pianist Polina Leschenko, subsequently performed in many major European concert halls and at Carnegie Hall, New York. Christian Poltera`s discography on labels including BIS, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and Chandos reflects his wide-ranging repertoire, including cello concertos by Dvorak, Schoeck, Honegger, Martin and Toch as well as chamber music by Prokofiev, Faure and Schubert.