Paula Skulte

Paula Skulte was born on 10 June 2004 in Riga, Latvia. She has played cello since she was 6 years old. In 2010 she started her studies in the Emils Darzins Music School which is recognised for being the starting point for many well-known professional musicians from the Baltics. Since 2018 she studies with Diana Ozoliņa, the docent of Jazeps Vitols Latvian Music Academy and principal cellist of LNSO.
Paula enjoys playing both solo and chamber music. She plays diverse programmes and enjoys classical music of various time periods. In March 2021 she debuted with Liepaja Symphony Orchestra and played P. Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Theme of Rococo”.
Since already young age Paula has participated in cello competitions. The few most recent are:
-       Ysaye International Music Competition, 2022;
-       Medici International Music Competition, 2021 – 2nd prize;
-       International Moscow Musicians Competition, 2021 – 5th prize;
-       Anna Kull International Competition, 2020;
-       Kaunas Sonorum International Competition for Young Musicians, 2020 – 1st prize.
Paula enjoys studying music and performance skills. She has also taken several masterclasses and private lessons with Raphael Wallfisch, Clemens Hagen, Tristan Cornut, Attila Pasztor, Marko Ylonen, Reinhard Latzko, Denis Shapovalov, Troels Svane, Leonard Elschenbroich, Kristin von der Goltz, Danjulo Ishizaka and Jean Guihen Queyras.
She is a member of many chamber ensembles and orchestras such as “Deutsch-Skandinavische Jugend-Philharmonie” with whom in January 2023 she played two concerts in Berlin Philharmonie; “Davinspiro Camerata” (artistic director and creator Daniil Bulayev) with whom in February 2023 she played a concert with cellist Mischa Maisky; “Latvia State Youth Orchestra” with whom she has played many concerts with well-known latvain musicians such as Vineta Sareika, Aleksandr Antonenko, Ksenia Sidorova, Iveta Apkalna and many more. She has also participated in many international projects and masterclasses such as “Cello Akademie Rutesheim 2022”, “Jarvi Academy 2022”; youth orchestra project “Riga-Rostock-Graz” and many more.
In her free time, she likes to read, play chess, travel and spend time with her friends.