The brilliant young Russian cellist Tatjana Vassilieva, winner of the 2001 Rostropovich Cello Competition in Paris, was born in Novosibirsk in 1977. She began studying the cello at the age of six. From 1989 to 1995 she studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, and from 1995 to 1998 at the Musikhochschule in Munich. She has also studied with David Geringas in Berlin. She has won awards in many international competitions, including the Adam Cello Competition in New Zealand (1999), the Pablo Casals Competition (2000) and the Concours Izuminomori in Japan (2001). Her repertoire is extensive, stretching from baroque to contemporary music. She has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras in Berlin, Weimar and Tokyo, and has worked with conductors such as Dmitri Kitaenko, Michail Jurowski and Sakari Oramo. The pianist Yumiko Urabe has built up a strong reputation as one of the finest accompanists currently performing in Germany.