The cellist Bernhard Naoki Hedenborg was born in Salzburg and owes his musical development to Heinrich Schiff, with whom he trained for around ten years. He completed his studies under David Geringas, Zara Nelsova and Miklós Perényi and in addition received intensive chamber music training from György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados, György Sebök, the Alban Berg Quartet, the Amadeus Quartet, the Artis Quartet, the Hagen Quartet and the Altenberg Trio.
In the 2007/8 season he was artist in residence at Theater Eisenach. From 2008 to 2011 he was principal cellist of the Tonkunstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, in 2011 he was accepted into the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and in 2014 he became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic.
His busy concert schedule has included performances in orchestras such as the WDR Funkhausorchester, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the chamber orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
As a chamber musician he is a member of the Thomas Christian Ensemble, which performs at renowned festivals and has recorded several CDs featuring arrangements of symphonic works by Mahler, Bruckner and Debussy. He is also a member of Ensemble Raro, with which he has performed at venues including the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Lucerne and Rheingau Music Festivals, and released the two albums Canti Dramatici and Dohnányi, Dvořák, Suk.
Bernhard Naoki Hedenborg is a prize-winner in numerous competitions, including the International Tchaikovsky Competition for young musicians. He was artistic director of the Kobe International Music Festival in Japan and gives masterclasses in countries including Japan and Romania.
