.Biography
"Rose has many virtues as a performer, but if we were obliged to highlight just one of them, that would be the elegance."
Scherzo
Johanna Rose is widely regarded as one of the most promising viola da gamba players of her generation (El Español). Praised as “an incredibly versatile musician” (Ö1), critics write that her playing “can be wonderfully addictive” (Fonoforum) and that "she works magic with sound and warmth” (Muziekpodium).
Having performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages—including the Konzerthaus Vienna, Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Teatros del Canal and Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Gran Teatro de Bogotá, the Quirinale in Rome, Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Zaryadye Hall in Moscow, and the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul—Rose has drawn sustained international attention for her virtuosity and sensitivity. “Her interpretation is characterized by great technique, but above all by a degree of musicality in no way inferior to the great masters of older generations,” writes Klassik Radio Vienna. She appears as a soloist in the ARD Mediathek.and her concerts have been broadcast live by Radio Nacional de España, RAI 3, WDR 3, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Ö1, and SWR.
Rooted near Bremen and shaped by studies in Basel, Milan, and Seville—where she graduated with highest distinction -Johanna Rose embodies a truly European artistic spirit. Navigating effortlessly between early music and contemporary creation, she combines scholarly depth with expressive freedom. In the words of Radio France, she is “a truly European musician.”
Her second solo album, Histoires d’un Ange (Rubicon Classics, 2019), devoted to the music of Marin Marais, marked a major milestone. The recording was widely acclaimed: “It makes one sit up and listen—though Johanna Rose plays more like the devil than an angel”, wrote klassikfavori. Pizzicato praised the “earthy and robust” approach she shares with harpsichordist Javier Núñez, while concerti highlighted her mastery of the music’s dialogic gestures. “Johanna Rose is someone we should keep an eye on!” (SWR). Radioklassik described the sound of her instrument as “silvery, sometimes archaic, but never smoothed over - angelic? For earthly conditions, simply wonderful,” and SR noted that the album awakens an irresistible curiosity to hear more of Marais at the court of the Sun King.
This artistic exploration continues in her fourth solo album, Visions du Diable, which returns to French repertoire and confronts Marais anew through Les Voix humaines, the work he composed for his mentor Sainte-Colombe. The album is released by Rubicon in February 2026, forming a direct continuation of Histoires d’un Ange.
Alongside her work with historical repertoire, Rose actively connects past and present. Her most recent release is a purely digital album of contemporary music, recorded in duo with clarinetist Diego Montes - “a surprising combination, with real potential for new sounds” (Ö1). In several commissioned works, she incorporates field recordings using the urban soundscape of Seville, specifically the noises of the Alameda de Hércules, as compositional material (Ö1), creating new music through her centuries-old instrument.
Earlier, with 7 Movements, Rose juxtaposed Bach’s cello suites BWV 1011 and 1012 with works by Sainte-Colombe, accompanied by seven video clips. This project, together with Histoires d’un Ange, received three nominations for the prestigious German Opus Klassik Award. BBC Music Magazine described her work as “the best of 21st-century historical performance… visceral and pleasingly direct.”
Johanna Rose has collaborated with ensembles such as Il Pomo d’Oro, Constantinople (Kiya Tabassian), Tiento Nuovo (Ignacio Prego), La Venexiana, More Hispano, the Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, La Grande Chapelle (Albert Recasens) amongst others. She has worked under the direction of names like Rinaldo Alessandrini, Monica Huggett, Maxim Emelyanychev and was invited by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to perform the solo arias of Bach’s St Matthew Passion under the direction of Jaap van Zweden. She also maintains a long-standing collaboration with Accademia del Piacere (Fahmi Alqhai), with whom she tours extensively throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
Johanna Rose performs on a historic viola da gamba built in 1721 by the Mittenwald instrument maker Egidius Kloz. Based in southern Spain, she continues to merge old and new at the edge of Europe, creating what Pizzicato calls “magical viola da gamba playing.”
