Thomas Ruge

The cellist Thomas Ruge, a native of Bremen, completed his training with Ottomar Borwitzky in the Berlin Philharmonic’s Karajan Academy. After several years in the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic, he joined the Munich Philharmonic in 1991, where he was first engaged as section leader and eventually as principal cellist. Ruge has appeared as a soloist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and the Rotterdam and Israel Philharmonics. From 1989 to 1998, he participated in concerts and tours by the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is also a founding member of the Nadolny Cello Quartet and the Mullova Ensemble and principal cellist of the Estonian Festival Orchestra. Thomas Ruge, who is a two-time laureate of the Brahms Society, has played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2003.

July 2023