Samuel Niederhauser is an up-and-coming Swiss cellist who, with his virtuosic, powerful yet deeply expressive playing, consistently captivates his audiences and impresses the juries of major international competitions – most recently as the winner of First Prize at the 2026 George Enescu International Competition. He performs with great success both at home and abroad, both as a soloist and in various chamber music ensembles, and has been principal cellist with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra since 2022.
His other honours include winning third prize at the 2023 Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki and being named a laureate at the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. The Brussels-based newspaper „De Staandard“ described Samuel’s interpretation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto as „the highlight of the evening“, whilst the Helsinki-based newspaper „Helsingin Sanomat“ described his playing as „powerful, emotional and expressive“.
In addition to numerous performances with various symphony orchestras in Switzerland, he has performed across Europe with orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Sinfonia Lahti, the Brussels Philharmonic and the Helsinki Philharmonic, and regularly appears at major festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival – where he won the ‘Prix Jeunes Étoiles 2023’ alongside Denis Linnik – and the Musikdorf Ernen.
Thanks to a generous loan, Samuel plays a cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore (1690).
His other honours include winning third prize at the 2023 Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki and being named a laureate at the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. The Brussels-based newspaper „De Staandard“ described Samuel’s interpretation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto as „the highlight of the evening“, whilst the Helsinki-based newspaper „Helsingin Sanomat“ described his playing as „powerful, emotional and expressive“.
In addition to numerous performances with various symphony orchestras in Switzerland, he has performed across Europe with orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Sinfonia Lahti, the Brussels Philharmonic and the Helsinki Philharmonic, and regularly appears at major festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival – where he won the ‘Prix Jeunes Étoiles 2023’ alongside Denis Linnik – and the Musikdorf Ernen.
Thanks to a generous loan, Samuel plays a cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore (1690).
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