Swiss cellist Lena Angelina von Almen, born in 2001, was accepted into the “Swiss Talent Scholarship Program for Music” at the Bern Conservatory at a young age, before beginning her bachelor’s degree in 2019 at the Bern University of the Arts in the cello class of Prof. Antonio Meneses. Under his guidance, she also completed two master classes at the International Summer Academy Biel, where he selected her both times to perform as a soloist with the Budweis Philharmonic Orchestra. After graduating from Bern, Lena was accepted into Prof. Claudio Bohórquez’s class at the prestigious Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin for advanced master’s studies, which she completed in 2025 with the highest grade.
As a chamber musician, Lena has already performed with internationally renowned artists such as Claudio Bohórquez, Jonathan Aner, Antje Weithaas or Nicolas Altstaedt, was a guest artist at the first edition of the Oropa Music Festival in Italy 2023 and participated as principal cellist in a project with the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle and alongside Kirill Gerstein. She is a scholarship holder at the Music Academy in Villars (Switzerland) and was invited to the Zermatt Music Festival Academy 2025/26, where she performed with the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Heinz Holliger and others. In master classes, she received valuable impulses from renowned cellists such as Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman, Maximilian Hornung, Franz Helmerson, Jens Peter Maintz, and many others.
Following an intensive collaboration with composer Craig Armstrong (Grammy Award and Golden Globe winner for “Moulin Rouge!”, “The Great Gatsby,” and others), his latest album, “Pacific,” was released in 2025 on CMA Records. The album features three pieces for piano, cello, and electronics that Lena had previously premiered live in Berlin together with him. She will participate in a CD recording of the new piece “What the Thunder Said” by German-Iranian composer Arash Safaian in fall 2026.
In June 2026 she was awarded first prize at the Dienemann Music Competition in Switzerland.
Lena currently plays an Italian cello built in 1698 by David Tecchler, which has been generously loaned to her.