Rainer Zipperling grew up in a family of musicians and actors, and started playing cello at the age of 7. After finishing school he studied Viola da Gamba and Violoncello at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, the world-famous institution for baroque music. Finishing his studies in 1980 he joined groups like the Orchestra of the 18th century, La Petite Bande, the Ricercar Consort and Camerata Köln. He is still working with most of these ensembles.
At the same time he started a career as a soloist, editor and recording engineer, mainly for his own record company FLORA, which he founded together with the acclaimed Belgian gambist Philippe Pierlot and the violin player François Fernandez. He performs with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists as principal cellist and gambist, and has worked together with Claudio Abbado and his Mozart Orchestra performing the Brandenburg Concertos.
Today he has a highly esteemed reputation as a teacher at the Conservatory of Cologne, the Lemmensinstitut in Leuven (Belgium), and the Conservatory in Cracow (Poland). He has given masterclasses throughout the whole world, in the USA, Portugal, Israel, Korea, Australia, Russia and elsewhere.
His recordings of the Bach Suites for Violoncello Solo were praised in the press for his vivid and spontaneous interpretation; he has subsequently started the major project to record the complete works for viola da gamba by Marin Marais. He is a fanatic mountain-biker, crossing the alps every year; he loves excellent wines and food, and spends his free time restoring his farm in the Provence. His wife and two daughters also play music.