Gidon Kremer
Violin
Leading violinist Gidon Kremer was born in Riga, Latvia in 1947, the only child of parents of German origin. After receiving his first musical instruction at home – both father and grandfather were professional violinists – he studied at the Riga School of Music and then at the Moscow Conservatory under David Oistrakh. Kremer enjoyed notable success at competitions in Brussels (1967), Montreal and Genoa (1969), and Moscow (1970). After extended tours through the former Soviet Union, he began appearing with increasing frequency in the West: his first concert in Germany came in 1975, followed by debuts at the Salzburg Festival in 1976 and in New York in 1977. Kremer was also one of the artistic directors of the music festival "Art Projekt '92" in Munich.
The international chamber music festival in Lockenhaus (Austria), founded by Kremer in 1981, has been a forum for young artists to present challenging and innovative chamber music concerts – programmes which are also taken on tour. In 1987, he signed his first exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, after having recorded for the Yellow Label for almost ten years. In 1992, the festival in Lockenhaus was named “KREMERata MUSICA” and in 1996, Kremer founded the KREMERata BALTICA chamber orchestra to foster outstanding young musicians from the three Baltic states. In 2002, they received the Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance.
An exceptionally prolific recording artist, Kremer has made over 120 albums. Many of these have received prestigious international awards and prizes in recognition of his exceptional interpretative insights. Kremer’s repertoire ranges from the Baroque to works by Henze and Stockhausen, while also introducing Western audiences to composers of the former Soviet Union such as Schnittke, Pärt, Gubaidulina, and Denisov. Martha Argerich, Valery Afanassiev, Oleg Maisenberg, and Vadim Sakharov are his favourite musical partners. He plays a violin made by Nicola Amati in 1641 and is the author of four books, of which the latest is Letters to a Young Pianist. These writings have been translated into many languages and reflect the breadth of his artistic pursuits and aesthetic outlook.
