About

Ema Grčman is a young, enthusiastic cellist from Slovenia who has established herself as a versatile performer worldwide. 

A passionate chamber musician, she has performed at several renowned music festivals in Europe and overseas, including the Stift Festival in the Netherlands, the Enescu Festival, the Davos Festival, the Ljubljana Festival, Mizmorim Festival and many others. She has performed alongside prominent musicians such as Ilya Gringolts, Reto Bieri, Hugo Ticciati, Pieter Wispelwey, Marc Coppey, Thomas Carroll, Isabelle van Keulen, Daniel Hope, Daniel Rowland and Julian Arp.

Among Ema’s most memorable performances was her debut in Ljubljana, where she performed Johannes Brahms’ famous Double Concerto with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. That same year, she was selected to join the Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein chamber orchestra. She gained further orchestral experience with the orchestras of the Oper Graz, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerorchester Basel and the Theatre Regensburg. In 2021, she played with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra and the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. She is also frequently invited to perform as a solo cellist with the Folkwang Kammerorchester. 

She has won many prizes in national and international competitions, mostly as a soloist but also in chamber music ensembles. Since 2023, she has been a member of the catinblack ensemble, with whom she tours and leads contemporary music workshops around the world. In 2025, catinblack was in residence at Harvard University in Boston, and at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf. In the same year, they were awarded the “Podium Gegenwart” prize by the German Music Council‘s “InSzene” programme.  They collaborate with renowned composers such as Chaya Czernowin, with whom they worked on and recorded her new piece, “Poetica”, at the IRCAM Institute in Paris. She also performsand creates new concert formats with ensembles Trio LYS, Ensemble Aurōrae and Quartensprung,

She received her early musical training in Slovenia, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in Croatia under the guidance of Prof. Valter Dešpalj. In 2020, she graduated with distinction from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, in the class of Cellist Julian Arp. She continued her Master’s studies in Scandinavia with the renowned cello soloist Torleif Thedéen, and in Basel with Thomas Demenga and Anita Leuzinger.

Ema has a wide range of musical interests and has performed across various genres, including classical, jazz, folk, and contemporary music. Besides performing in concerts, she is also a passionate mentor and pedagogue who is committed to passing on the importance of music to younger generations. Since 2024, she has also been a member of the Raum 236 team in Zurich, where she creates new concert formats.

Ema plays on an instrument made by Paulus Pilat from 1928.

Biography for press and publicity release at different lengths are available at request