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Kolja Blacher  Born in Berlin, Kolja Blacher was accepted for study with Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School of Music in New York as a fifteen-year-old. He subsequently completed his studies with Sándor Végh in Salzburg before embarking on a remarkable career as a solo violinist. He has been a professor for violin and chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg since October 1999.
Mr. Blacher appears as a soloist with important orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the NDR Sinfonieorchester, Gürzenich Orchester Köln and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He collaborates with leading conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Alain Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Vladimir Jurovsky, Mariss Jansons, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Kent Nagano, Jonathan Nott and Kirill Petrenko.
Kolja Blacher also frequently performs chamber music as a duo or as a trio with Clemens Hagen, cello, Wolfram Christ, viola, and pianists Bruno Canino, Kyrill Gerstein and Vassilij Lobanov.
After the very positive response to his playing and conducting with the Stuttgart Kammerorchester, Santa Caecilia in Rome, the Hong Kong Philharmonic (Beethoven’s Violin Concerto), the Kioi Sinfonietta in Tokyo (Brahms Violin Concerto) and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Kolja Blacher has discovered his passion for performing both as a conductor and soloist and will appear more frequently in the forthcoming concert seasons in this twofold capacity, including performances in 2007/2008 with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra of the concertos by Robert Schumann (in Berlin) and Kurt Weill (in Dessau).
In April of 2007 his recording of sonatas by Shostakovich and Mieczyslaw Weinberg (with partner Jasha Nemtsov at the piano) on the Hänssler label was recognized with the German Record Critics’ Award (Quarterly Critics' Choice). In May of 2006 his recording of the Stravinsky and Alban Berg concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado likewise won the German Record Critics’ Award (Quarterly Critics' Choice) as well as the Diapason d’Or. The German magazine Fono Forum wrote: “This live recording once again testifies to his standing as a world-class violin soloist. His rendering of Berg's score is characterized by clearness of melodic line, romantic yet continuously nuanced tonal production. The ‘tranquillo’ close of the work is captivating. Stravinsky’s violin concerto glows with concise and powerful exuberance.”
Mr. Blacher’s earlier recordings, including the violin concerto by Boris Blacher, Hindemith’s Kammermusik Nr. 4 as well as the violin sonatas by Schumann, Bartók and Holliger (with Bruno Canino at the piano), have been recognized with many awards.
During the 2007/2008 season he will continue his many years of successful collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Markus Stenz. Other engagements will take him to Milan, Rome, Berlin, Monaco, several cities in Israel as well as to Finland and Canada. In March of 2008 he will appear in various concerts in Tokyo with both the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and the Kioi Sinfonietta. The performance with the Yomiuri Orchestra will also be broadcast live on Japanese television. A high point for the 2008/2009 season is his appearance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall.
Kolja Blacher plays the “Tritton” Stradivari violin from 1730, on generous loan to him from Ms. Kimiko Powers.
The 2007/2008 season This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management. |