Thomas Ruge (cello), born 1963 in Bremen, studied cello in Berlin, most recently with Ottomar Borwitzky at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmoniker. He was principal cellist in various well-known orchestras, such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and orchestra of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence or the Munich Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra under conductors like Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Sanderling. After having played several years at the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker (various tours with Herbert von Karajan), Ruge has been section leader and subsequently associate principal cellist of the Munich Philharmonic. In addition, he regularly performs as principal cellist with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Bayerische Staatsoper, Semperoper, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and many others. From 1989 to 1998 he participated in appearances of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and was also a founding member of the Nadolny Cello Quartet. Since 2020, he is the principal cellist of the Estonian Festival Orchestra. As soloist, he played the cello concertos of Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and Brahms in the Philharmonie Berlin. Thomas Ruge has won two prizes from the Brahms Society. Since 2003 he has worked as a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.
