Anne Gastinel took up the cello at the age of four. At just eleven years of age she entered the Lyon Conservatoire (CNSM). After being awarded her Premier Prix there in 1986, she went on to postgraduate studies at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM). Her teachers there, Yo-Yo Ma, János Starker and Paul Tortelier, had a profound influence on her personal and musical development, and already recognized in her the maturity of an exceptional artist. She won numerous prizes in major international competitions (Scheveningen, Prague, Rostropovitch) and began to appear all over Europe, making a lasting impact on the general public in the 1990 Eurovision Competition.

Her career now takes her to the leading venues in Europe, as well as Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, and the United States. She has appeared there with such great masters as Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Kurt Sanderling. During her travels she enjoys exchanging ideas and experiences with many distinguished musicians and composers, including Henri Dutilleux, Emmanuel Krivine, Josep Pons, Vladimir Spivakov, Pinchas Steinberg, Krzysztof Penderecki, Edmon Colomer, Michel Plasson, Yuri Bashmet, Tan Dun, Paavo Järvi and Michael Schønwandt. She also accords a generous place to friends of her own generation – Claire Désert, Éric Tanguy, Justin Brown, Marianne Thorsen, François-Frédéric Guy, Louis Langrée, Pedro Halffter, Philippe Cassard, David Grimal, Alain Altinoglu, Nelson Goerner, Nicholas Angelich and many others.

For nearly fifteen years now, her recordings have received the highest distinctions. In 2006, Anne Gastinel was awarded the Victoire de la Musique in the category ‘Soloist of the Year’ (after ‘Young Talent’ & ‘Best Recording’). Unanimously recognised as the ambassador of the french cello school, she was selected to play for one year the legendary Matteo Gofriller cello that once belonged to Pablo Casals. She now performs her programmes on a Testore instrument of 1690, combining the standard repertoire with regular performances of new works.