He is a double bass player born in Kirchen, Germany whose father gave him his first lessons on the double bass when he was ten years old.
He took further studies with tutors from several German cities and one from London and taking part in the Jugend Musiziert Competition for young German musicians he won the first prize on three occasions while still a teenager.
He took part in an audition to perform as a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra and through those auditions he was chosen to take the position of Principal Bass for both Leonard Bernstein and Claudio Abbado. Also during his years in education he often performed with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra where he was later a Sub-principal Bass along side playing with the Frankfurt Opera and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
In 1994, when he was in his early thirties, he travelled to the UK and accepted a position in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Three years later he became a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra, in 2008 he was appointed No.2 Double Bass and he still performs with them.
Aside from his career with the Philharmonia he has often performed as a guest musician, chamber musician and/or soloist, often as Principal Bass. Some of the orchestras and ensembles he has performed with include the Bingham Quartet, Capella Classica, Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Euphorian Quintet, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Rheinland-Pfalz State Youth Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, Soloists of the Philharmonia and with Victoria Mullova’s ensemble and members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra. Also following his love of chamber music he is a co-founder of the Gurenberg Ensemble.
A regular performer at festivals of chamber music, he has been heard playing at the Aldebergh Festival with Thomas Ades, Sir Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. He has also been heard with the Manderling Quartet at the Hambacher Musikfest and at festivals at Graben and Salzburg.
No stranger to the recording studio, he has been the soloist on two recordings by Kammerphilharmonie Berlin.
In the field of musical education he was a tutor at the Cambridge String Day in March 2011.
Here he is in the Philharmonia Orchestra Strings Project 2015…
Sources:
- http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/orchestra/players/double_basses/christian_geldsetzer/
- http://www.euyo.org.uk/germany
- http://www.marwei.de/gbe/eMusiker.htm
- http://www.villamusica.de/stipendiaten/ehemalige-stipendiaten
- http://www.eastinvolve.net/grimston-west-norfolk-uk/calendar/item/1238372
- http://www.audite.de/en/news/154-the_12th_hambachermusikfest.html
- http://www.acefoundation.org.uk/courses/course-string2011.html