Stjepan Hauser

Hauser – born Stjepan Hauser in Pula, Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia) on June 15, 1986 – is an award-winning cellist best known as one half of classical crossover duo 2Cellos. Hauser’s career began five years before the formation of the duo when he was invited to perform for Mstislav Rostropovich at the gala at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in 2006. Because of his performance he was asked to perform at many European festivals before becoming an international sensation. As a solo cellist, Hauser performed in more than 40 countries and played some of the world’s most esteemed venues including the Royal Albert hall, Wigmore Hall, the Amsterdam Concertbegouw, and many others. He has collaborated with other cellists including Bernard Greenhouse, Ralph Kirshbaum, Valter Despalj, Philippe Muller, Young-Chang Cho, Reinhard Latzko, Karine Georgian, Roel Dieltiens, and Alexander Ivashkin. After several collaborations, his first solo album, Song to the Moon, was released in 2010. In 2011, he formed 2Cellos with Luka Sulic. Hauser had posted a video of the duo performing Michael Jackson’s hit “Smooth Criminal” on social media, and it became a viral sensation. The duo was signed by Sony Masterworks and released their self-titled debut in 2011. The duo released a total of five albums up through 2018 including In2ition (2013), Celloverse (2015), and Let There Be Cello (2018). In the meantime, Hauser continued to release solo albums including Christopher Ball: Music for Cello (2011) and Classic (2020), an album that featured Hauser performing with the London Symphony Orchestra. While in lockdown during the Covid-19 quarantine, he streamed several live performances to promote the album. In October 2020, a deluxe edition of the Classic album was reissued, including a bonus DVD that contained those lockdown performances. Throughout his career, Hauser has been honored with a total 21 first prizes at national and international competitions.