Floris Mijnders began his cello studies at the age of eight and has studied with the renowned cello pedagogue Jean Decroos at the Royal conservatory of the Hague in the Netherlands, where he graduated in 1990. During his studies he has taken masterclasses with Heinrich Schiff and Mstislav Rostropovich.
From an early age orchestral playing has been a main passion in his musical life, at first in many youth and student orchestras, among them the European Union Youth Orchestra. Very soon after his studies at 24 years of age, he became principal cellist in the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra and two years later was appointed principal cellist at the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
From 2001-2015 he became principal cellist in the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and recently moved to Germany where he was appointed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been invited as a guest leader in many orchestras, amongst them the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. During this extensive period he worked with many of the great conductors, such as Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Sir Simon Rattle , Zubin Mehta, Yannick-Nezet-Seguin and Valery Gergiev.
Floris is a passionate chamber musician and played with inspiring musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax, Christian Poltera, Phillipe Graffin and Daniel Rowland. He plays in many formations, among them the prize winning Ensemble Cameleon, a group of seven string players from leading Dutch & German orchestras. As a soloist he played with many orchestras, among them the Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestra with great conductors such as Valery Gergjev and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. In addition to his playing he has been a passionate teacher for many years. Currently he is professor for cello at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.
