Martin Ostertag, a native of Lörrach, studied under Leo Koscielny at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music and with André Navarra in Paris. He received prizes at the Vienna International Competition in 1969 and in the Young Artists Concerts programme sponsored by the German Music Council in 1968/69. He was a solo cellist in Düsseldorf and Berlin (Amati Ensemble and German Opera) before assuming the same post in the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden in 1974. Since 1980 he has taught at the Karslruhe Music Academy.