Jan Vogler met movie-star comedian Bill Murray at Berlin Airport in an encounter worthy of a Hollywood meet cute. The cellist, who directs the Dresden Music Festival and the Moritzburg Festival on top of a formidable solo career, was flying back to his home in New York following a tour when he met the actor. “Bill started speaking to me when we went through security – he was wondering how I would fit the cello in the plane,” Vogler tells me. “He said, ‘Do you think you can fit that in the overhead compartment?’ I said, ‘It’s got its own seat!”
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler, New Worlds Jan Vogler and Bill Murray. Photo © Peter Rigaud

Sure enough, once on the plane the star of Groundhog Day found himself sitting across the aisle from Vogler and his 1707 Stradivarius. “He was really surprised,” Vogler says. “He said, ‘Wow, the cello gets a window seat in first class?’ I said, ‘It’s a pretty valuable cello!”

The two hit it off straight away, unaware as they shared jokes and chatted about their respective industries, that a few years later they would be touring the...