Maximilian Hornung has established himself as one of the leading cellists in recent years. His playing is characterized by great naturalness, paired with technical mastery and an enormously versatile, powerful and unique tone, which he always puts at the service of the music. His ability to connect with the audience on a deeply emotional level and his charismatic presence make him stand out. In addition to the much-performed core repertoire such as Dvorak, Elgar and Schumann, he also regularly devotes himself with great curiosity to the lesser-known cello masterpieces.

As a soloist, he has performed with such renowned orchestras as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre National de France, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, the Czech Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézét-Séguin, Paavo Järvi, Marie Jacquot, Mariss Jansons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Pablo Heras-Casado, Semyon Bychkov, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Antonello Manacorda, John Storgårds Michael Francis, Krzysztof Urbański and Robin Ticciati. His chamber music partners include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vilde Frang, Denis Kozukhin, Julia Fischer, Antje Weithaas, Hélène Grimaud, Daniil Trifonov, Hisako Kawamura, Christian Tetzlaff, Lisa Batiashvili, François Leleux, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman und Herbert Schuch. He has been invited to numerous festivals, including Schwetzingen, the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lucerne, Verbier, Lockenhaus, Ravinia and Hong Kong. He is a regular guest at venues such as the Berlin, Cologne and Essen Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London's Wigmore Hall. In recent years, he has also made a name for himself as a soloist and conductor and regularly conducts projects, most recently with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana..

An inspired and highly sensitive conductor, Tomàs Grau is characterized by his precise and clear gesture and by the sincerity of his musical readings, which seek to transmit the light, delicate emotions of each of the scores, sharing with the audience his love for the music.

He has conducted many international soloists, including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maria João Pires, Midori, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gautier Capuçon, Mischa
Maisky, Javier Perianes, Sabine Meyer,Steven Isserlis, Paul Lewis, Alexei Volodin, Stephen Kovacevich, Alexander Melnikov, Seong-Jin Cho, Mark Padmore and Alice Sara Ott in all the main concert halls in Spain, including the National Auditorium in Madrid, the Auditorio in Zaragoza, the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Auditori in Barcelona, as well as internationally at the Tonhalle in Zurich.

Nowadays, Tomàs is the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Franz Schubert Filharmonia, and he is often invited to conduct other orchestras, such as the Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Orquesta de Córdoba, Orquesta Sinfónica de Burgos, Beethoven Philharmonie and Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, among others. He has recorded for labels such as SONY Classical, ARS Produktion (label of the year at the International Classical Music Awards) and Discmedi.

Among his immediate commitments, he will be conducting such soloists as Ivo Pogorelich, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Katia & Marielle Labèque and, once again, Midori. Born in Barcelona in 1979, Tomàs Grau studied music at the Superior Conservatory of Music in his own city. He continued his conducting studies at the Superior School of Music of Catalonia, where he graduated in Orchestral Conducting, with top ratings. His Orchestral Conducting studies were completed in the Wiener Meisterkurse.

The Franz Schubert Filharmonia has enjoyed a great reception from the audience since its inception, both for its artistic quality and for the relevance of its programmes.

Formed by a new generation of the best Spanish musicians who perform under the inspired direction of Tomàs Grau, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, the orchestra has collaborated with such soloists as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maria João Pires, Joshua Bell, Mischa Maisky, Midori, Ivo Pogorelich, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Rudolf Buchbinder, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Stephen Kovacevich, Gautier Capuçon, Sabine Meyer, Steven Isserlis, Paul Lewis, Alexei Volodin, Seong-Jin Cho and Alice Sara Ott, among many others.

The Franz Schubert Filharmonia has also worked with such conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Krzysztof Urbański, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Paul Agnew, Thomas Rösner, Pablo González, Antoni Ros Marbà, Josep Pons, Salvador Mas, Edmon Colomer, Guillermo García Calvo, Virginia Martínez and Marzio Conti, among others.

The orchestra has performed in such venues as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barceoona, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Auditorio de Zaragoza, Palacio Euskalduna de Bilbao and Palau de las Artes in Valencia, and has made concert tours in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

The Franz Schubert Filharmonia performs its subscription seasons in Barcelona, Tarragona and Lleida, and since 2009 has had the honour of being the resident orchestra of El Vendrell, the birthplace of the great maestro Pau Casals.

The orchestra has recorded several albums, among which we can highlight Die Romantische Seele with the pianist Judith Jáuregui. Produced by the German label ARS Produktion, winner of the International Classical Music Awards, and nominated for the Opus Klassik Awards, and Alba Eterna, an opera by the composer Albert Guinovart and produced by the Sony Classical label.