Markus Stocker was born in 1945 in Basle, Switzerland. After High School he studied 'cello with August Wenzinger and chamber music with Brenton Langbein, at the Academy of Music. At the same time he took courses at the University in Musicology, History and Philosophy. After completing his Teacher's and Soloist's Diplomas he furthered his studies for two years in Paris with Andre Navarra, Paul Tortelier and Pierre Fournier and also spent one year as assistant to Fritz Magg at the Indiana University in Bloomington, USA. In 1972 he won the International 'Cello Competition in Paris in memory of Maurice Marechal, whose 'cello he now plays. He also obtained the Debussy Prize of the City of Paris and in 1973 won the Soloist's Prize of the Association of Swiss Musicians. He then entered the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra and became a member of the Winterthur String Quartet. In 1976 he was appointed Professor at the Conservatory of Zurich. His solo engagements brought him to most European countries, North America, South Africa, Israel, Russia and the Far East. He has performed chamber music with such eminent musicians as Martha Argerich, Rudolf Serkin, Gidon Kremer, Sandor Vegh and Wanda Wilkomirska. Among his recordings are solo Bach works and the Mendelssohn works. In early February, 1995, he gave the European Premiere of Oskar Morawetz' cello concerto, Memorial to Martin Luther King, with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. Mr Stocker is currently Senior Lecturer in Cello at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane, Australia. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.