Russian-born cellist Nina Kotova has been hailed as "passionate and inspiring". According to Newsweek magazine, "she‘s a fantastically gifted cellist". Time magazine states: "She is a musician of high seriousness and real talent".

Ms Kotova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and Musikhochschule in Cologne, Germany, giving her first performance as a soloist with orchestra at age 11. She made her Western debut in Prague with the Prague Radio Orchestra in 1986 after winning the Prague International Competition, and followed with debuts at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Centre in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Ms Kotova has since then performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras across the globe, including the Czech Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and the Royal Opera House orchestras, the BBC Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon, and the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg. She has performed on the Red Square in Moscow, for the Imperial family of Japan, and at Buckingham Palace.

Ms Kotova has collaborated with musicians such as violinists Sarah Chang, Joshua Bell and Nikolaj Znaider, flutist Sir James Galway and pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lang Lang and Helene Grimaud, with Sting and conductors Teodor Currentzis, Stephane Deneve, Vladimir Jurowski, Claus Peter Flor, Nicola Luisotti, Antonio Pappano, Libor Pesek and Tamas Vasary.

Although perhaps most acclaimed for her performances and recording of the Dvorak Cello Concerto, Ms Kotova has a keen interest in expanding the repertoire available for cello. A composer herself and a champion of contemporary music, Ms Kotova commissioned several leading composers to write a Cello Concerto for her, including another recent collaborator composer Christopher Theofanidis. In 2009 Ms. Kotova performed the world premiere of the Theofanidis Cello Concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, following with the Asian premiere of the work in Singapore with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap Van Zweden.

Now performing with the instrument that Jacqueline Du Pre made famous in the early 1960s and that Lynn Harrell played over the last two decades, she explains, "The cello is a unique instrument with the capability to reflect the most mysterious qualities of the human soul. As a solo instrument, the cello must have new works written for it that emphasize its virtuosity, powerful energy and lyrical impact".