Julia Fischer
Julia Fischer was born in Munich, Germany in 1983, and now ranks among the top violinists performing for audiences around the globe. Reviews include the following praise: "...not a talent, but a full-fledged phenomenal violinist...", "...she takes your breath away...", "...worthy of a hailstorm of superlatives...", "...a winning blend of steely assurance and unabashed lyricism...".
Julia Fischer has worked with such internationally acclaimed conductors as Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Yehudi Menuhin, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Bernhard Klee, Asher Fish, Marek Janowski, Jeffrey Tate, Simone Young, Herbert Blomstedt, Yakov Kreizberg, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sir Neville Marriner, David Zinman, Michael Tilson Thomas, Mikhail Jurowski, as well as with a variety of top orchestras from Germany, Britain, the US, Poland, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Japan and Slovakia. She has performed in most European countries, the United States, Brasil and Japan. Her concerts have been broadcast on television and radio in every major European country, as well as on many US, Japanese and Australian radio stations.
In 2003, Julia Fischer - who has appeared in concert halls in the US since 1997 - performed with the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel, playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto in New York's Lincoln Center as well as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in Vail, CO. Her 2003 Carnegie Hall debut received standing ovations for her performance of Brahms' Double Concerto with Lorin Maazel, Ha-Na Chang and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In autumn 2003, she toured with Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhaus Orchestra throughout Germany, the UK and Austria. In January 2004, Julia Fischer embarked on her second tour with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, this time through Germany.
Her chamber music partners include Christoph Eschenbach, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Daniel Muller-Schott, Tabea Zimmermann, Gustav Rivinius, Lars Vogt and Milana Chernyavska.
Julia Fischer began playing the violin before the age of four, receiving her first lesson from Helge Thelen; and a few months later, she started studying the piano with her mother Viera Fischer. Her formal violin education commenced at the Leopold Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg, under the tutelage of Lydia Dubrowskaya. At the age of nine, she was admitted to the Munich Academy of Music, where she continues to work with Ana Chumachenco.
Julia Fischer has won many competitions, the most prestigious of which include the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition under Yehudi Menuhin's supervision (where she won both the first prize and the special prize for best performance of a solo work by Bach in 1995); and the Eighth Eurovision Competition for Young Instrumentalists in 1996, which was broadcast in 22 countries from Lisbon. In 1997, Julia Fischer was awarded the "Prix d'Espoir" by the Foundation of European Industry.
In 2004, Julia Fischer signed an exclusive recording contract with PentaTone Classics.
Her active repertoire ranges from Bach to Penderecki, from Vivaldi to Shostakovich, and includes over 40 works with orchestra as well as some 60 chamber-music works. Julia Fischer currently performs on the Stradivarius 1716 violin "Booth," which is on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.