Friedemann Eichhorn

The German-born violinist, Friedemann Eichhorn, is one of the most creative and versatile musicians of his generation. His artistic activities range from performing early Baroque music on period instruments to classical and contemporary works with renowned orchestras and chamber music partners. Recent highlights include performances with the Konzerthaus-orchester Berlin under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Sir Antonio Pappano. Among many other works, he rediscovered and made the first recording of the complete violin concertos of French virtuoso Pierre Rode. He has also given the world premieres of Fazıl Say’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Violin Sonata No. 2.

Eichhorn studied with Valery Gradow, Alberto Lysy and Margaret Pardee, and graduated from the Mannheim University of Music, the International Menuhin Music Academy and The Juilliard School. He also earned a PhD in musicology from the University of Mainz. He holds a violin professorship at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and is artistic director of the Kronberg Academy. He plays a violin by Nicola Gagliano from 1758.

Nicolas Koeckert

The German-Brazilian violinist Nicolas Koeckert, who comes from a traditional musical family, was born in Munich. From 1998 he studied at the Musikhochschule in Cologne with Zakhar Bron, while performing regularly as an international soloist. In 2005 he graduated with distinction and in 2007 completed his studies with his master’s degree. In 2001 he won first prize at the International Violin Competition in Novosibirsk (Russia), and was the first German to become a laureate at the world-famous International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow in June 2002. In the same summer he was awarded the Artist Promotion Prize of the Bavarian Government. In June 2003 he was again a prize-winner at the Montreal International Music Competition and was awarded second prize at the International Violin Competition in St Petersburg. He has appeared as a soloist with distinguished conductors and orchestras in Europe, Asia, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Canada.

Rudolf Joachim Koeckert

Born in Prague, Rudolf Joachim Koeckert was taught the violin by his father and later studied with Max Rostal in Bern. At the age of 23 he became a laureate of the International ARD Competition in Munich, and in 1979 won the Bavarian State Violin Award. With the internationally known Koeckert Quartet he toured worldwide and made recordings for major record companies including Deutsche Grammophon and Orfeo, as well appearing on television. He has given regular recitals and played as a soloist with renowned orchestras. In 1980 Rudolf Joachim Koeckert became Leader of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1989 was made a professor of the Munich Musikhochschule. He also gives master-classes, and serves as a jury member in various violin competitions in Germany and abroad. He was for many years a member of the Munich Piano Trio.

Axel Strauss

The first German artist ever to win the international Naumburg Violin Award in New York, Axel Strauss made his American début at the Library of Congress in Washington DC and his New York début at Alice Tully Hall in 1998. Since then he has given recitals in major North American cities, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2007 he was the violinist in the world premiere of Two Awakenings and a Double Lullaby, written for him by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Axel Strauss has performed as soloist with orchestras in Budapest, Hamburg, New York, Seoul, Shanghai, Bucharest, San Francisco and Cincinnati, among others, and has toured widely throughout the world as a recitalist and chamber musician. He has also served as guest concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony. In 2013 Axel Strauss was appointed Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal. Prior to that he served as Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.