Jens Peter Maintz enjoys an outstanding reputation as a versatile soloist, highly sought-after chamber musician, and committed cello teacher.

Originally from Hamburg, Germany, he studied with David Geringas and participated in masterclasses with other great cellists such as Heinrich Schiff, Boris Pergamenschikow, Frans Helmerson, and Siegfried Palm. He was further influenced by his intensive chamber music study with Uwe-Martin Haiberg and Walter Levin. In 1994, he won first prize in the ARD International Music Competition, which was the first time to be awarded to a cellist in 17 years.

He gathered several years of valuable orchestral experience as Principal Cello of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester in Berlin, and travelled the world as a member of the renowned Trio Fontenay. Since 2006, Jens Peter Maintz has been principal cello of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, on the invitation of Claudio Abbado. His solo career has brought him into contact with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Marek Janowski, Dmitry Kitajenko, Franz Welser-Möst, Reinhard Goebel and Bobby McFerrin. He has appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig MDR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Den Haag Residenzorchester and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Alongside classical repertoire, Jens Peter Maintz has performed numerous works by contemporary composers, from Isang Yun to Georg Friedrich Haas. Since 2004, he has been professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he teaches a highly popular and successful cello class. Many of his students are prize winners in important international competitions, and some hold leading positions in major orchestras.

Similarly, Jens Peter Maintz is equally in great demand as a chamber musician. He is a member of the prestigious ‘Spectrum Concerts Berlin’ concert series, and performs with chamber music partners such as Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Torleif Thedéen, Hélène Grimaud, Kolja Blacher, Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit, and also the Artemis, Carmina and Auryn Quartets. It is now 25 years since he formed the cello duo ‘Cello Duello’ with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Together, they perform at the world’s most eminent festivals, such as the Kronberg Festival, the Cello Biennale Amsterdam and the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival.

Moreover, Maintz’s Sony Classical CD of solo works by Bach, Dutilleux, and Kodaly won the ECHO-Klassik award. Additionally, his highly acclaimed recording of Haydn’s cello concertos with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen was released on the Berlin Classics label. 

Jens Peter Maintz plays the ‘Ex-Servais’ cello, made by Giovanni Grancino in 1697.