Acclaimed by the Fanfare Magazine as “tonally, technically, and musically superb”, Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee (b. 2004) has always enjoyed the musical life combining the richness of art, travel, and performing.

Luka has performed as an international soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. She made her solo debut at age eleven with the Calgary Civic Symphony as a winner of the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition. Most recently in November 2022 Luka received the first prize at the Pablo Casals International Award in El Vendrell, Spain. In September 2022 she received the Frans Helmerson Promotional Award at the Kronberg Academy and performed as soloist with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. In October 2022 she received second prize as well as the special prize of the jury at the 8th Dotzauer International Competition for Young Cellists. In the same month, Luka performed with the National Philharmonic Orchestra as the first prize winner of the 9th Johansen International Strings Competition in Washington, DC. Luka also received a special prize at the 6th UNISA International Strings Competition, third prize at the 2021 Shean Strings & Piano Competition, second prize and audience prize at the 2019 Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal Competition, and first prize at the 2021 Morningside Music Bridge Concerto Competition.

As a member of the Echo Klassik-nominated LGT Young Soloists, Luka has performed in numerous concert halls around the world including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, the Tonhalle in Zürich, Victoria Hall in Singapore, the Rheingau Musik Festival, and at the Woordfees Festival in Stellenbosch, South Africa. In January 2020, Luka recorded and premiered a new arrangement of the Beethoven A Major Cello Sonata for cello and strings on NAXOS at the Teldex Studio in Berlin, Germany. The CD was released in November 2020 and Luka is acclaimed by the Fanfare Magazine as “sublime, with an interpretative grasp… playing of rare quality.” 

Luka has also worked with distinguished artists and string quartets including Johannes Moser, Nicholas Mann, Frans Helmerson, Jens Peter Maintz, Laurence Lesser, Hans Jorgen Jensen, the Calidore String Quartet, the Kronos Quartet, and the Schumann Quartet. In November 2021, Luka attended the Rutesheim Cello Akademie where she worked with Danjulo Ishizaka and Claudio Bohorquez, and more recently she attended the Prussia Cove Masterclasses under the guidance of Steven Isserlis. An avid chamber musician, Luka participated in the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival Young Performer’s Program in 2018 and 2019. She has also performed alongside renowned artists such as Andrés Cárdenes, Simon James, Danielle Belen, Desmond Hoebig, and Ning Feng. In 2023 Luka founded the Duo Osensus with Belgian pianist Nicolas Absalom.

Throughout her life, Luka has always enjoyed performing at schools, hospitals, senior homes, and community events. From 2019 until 2022 she was the Calgary Regional Director of the Back to Bach Project, “a global initiative to inspire music and arts education to young children, and to teach them the value of hard work and passion.” At the age of one, Luka had her first cello lesson with Christine Bootland. Other previous mentors include John Kadz, Johanne Perron, and Horacio Contreras. Luka also started playing piano at the age of three and finished the Royal Conservatory of Music ARCT piano exam with First Class Honours under the instruction of Derek Chiu. 

She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in cello performance at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.