Dorothea Plans Casal received her first cello lessons at the age of eight at the "Johann Sebastian Bach" music school in Leipzig. She was taught by Prof. Wolfgang Weber as part of the young talent development class at the "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Academy of Music there.
In 2001 she also began her cello studies with him at the Leipzig Conservatory and in 2004 she switched to the class of Christian Giger, principal cellist in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. She has worked in master classes with renowned artists such as Gustav Rivinius, Joseph Schwab, Jens-Peter Maintz, Paul Watkins and Daniel Hope.
During her studies Dorothea Plans Casal participated in numerous festivals such as the Euromusic Festival in Leipzig, the Youth Flanders Festival in Belgium and the Erasmus Chamber Orchestra Festival in the Netherlands.
From September 2006 to July 2007 Dorothea studied in the USA at the "North Carolina School of The Arts" with Brooks Whitehouse. During this time she also received important impulses in master classes with Bernard Greenhouse, János Starker and Hans Jensen. Back in Germany, she then began her postgraduate studies "Soloist Class" at the "Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main" with Prof. Michael Sanderling.
Dorothea Plans Casal played for years as a substitute and later on a temporary contract at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig. She plays regularly in the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover and has been engaged by the Dresden Philharmonic since the 2008/2009 season.
However, chamber music is her greatest passion. During her studies she founded the Adelaide Quartet with her sister Theresia Stadlhofer, with whom she has performed regionally and nationally and twice won the Chamber Music Competition of the Leipzig Academy of Music.
She was also a member of the Quarteto Iturriaga in 2007/08, with whom she played concerts throughout Germany and Europe. She has been an artist at important festivals such as the Schleswig Holstein Festival and the Festival für neue Musik Berlin.