Martin Menking was born in 1967 in Münster, Germany. Already when still a student of Heinrich Schiff and David Geringas, he won numerous national and international competitions. He rounded off his musical training in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Boris Pergamenschikov, Janos Starker, Siegfried Palm, Isaac Stern, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Alban Berg Quartet. In 1994, he became principal cellist of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, joining the Berlin Philharmonic in 1996. Menking is involved in making chamber music with his colleagues in a number of different formations, most notably the 12 Cellists of whom he is managing director.
