Maria Bachmann
Violinist

A violinist who combines outstanding musicianship with dazzling technical command, a tone of exceptional purity, and a magnetic stage presence, Maria Bachmann has been the subject of critical accolades worldwide from the very beginning of her career. The New York Times has hailed her as “a violinist of soul and patrician refinement,” and The Boston Globe has similarly praised Ms. Bachmann as being “astonishing in every musical and technical regard.” Ms. Bachmann has also had the rare distinction of being profiled by Time magazine, as well as by such journals as Mirabella, Fanfare and CD Review.

Among Ms. Bachmann’s numerous competition victories are First Prizes at the Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna, the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York and the Pro Musicis Foundation Award. These distinctions were followed by acclaimed debuts with the St. Louis Symphony under Leonard Slatkin, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center with Robert Spano and with Marin Alsop conducting the Pacific Symphony in Los Angeles.

An active guest soloist abroad, Ms. Bachmann has been heard with the Taipei Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, MAV Symphony in Budapest, the Brabants Orchestra of the Netherlands, and with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra on tour in Japan. She has performed recitals in Tokyo, Kyoto, London, Paris, Shanghai, Taipei, Vienna, Budapest, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, New York's Town Hall, Merkin Hall and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and in Boston's Jordan Hall. Of Hungarian descent, Ms. Bachmann is noted for her performance of Bela Bartok, and was invited by the Library of Congress to recreate the legendary Szigeti/Bartok recital of 1940 in a nationally broadcast performance there.

In 2010, Bachmann performed the world premiere of Philip Glass's Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra with The Orchestra of The Hague in The Netherlands. She gave the world premiere of Paul Moravec's Violin Concerto at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia with Orchestra 2001, and performed John Corigliano's Red Violin Concerto at Chicago's Millenium Park, Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Wisconsin Symphony and conductor Alexander Platt, and the Barber Violin Concerto at the Peninsula Festival (WI) with Maestro Victor Yampolsky. In the 2011-12 season, she performed Corigliano's Red Violin with the Tacoma Symphony, Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Zigeunerweisen with the Wisconsin Symphony, and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in Akron, Ohio.

Recent concerto appearances include Vivaldi Concertos at Carnegie's Zankel Hall in New York, and the world premiere of Jay Reise's Violin Concerto at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center with Orchestra 2001. She has recently performed recitals in Boston's Jordan Hall, Brooklyn’s Museum of Art for the Corigliano Festival celebrating his 70th Birthday, New York's Merkin Hall, and at The Los Angeles Museum of Art.

Ms. Bachmann's most recent CD, Glass Heart, with pianist Jon Klibonoff was released in 2011 on the Orange Mountain Music label. The CD includes the world premiere recording of Philip Glass's Sonata for violin and piano (2008), written for Bachmann, and music of Bach, Schubert and Ravel. The disc explores connections between the music of Glass and the other composers. Bachmann and Klibonoff premiered the Glass Sonata in 2009, and were awarded the Classical Recording Foundation's 2010 Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award for Glass Heart.

The Red Violin, Ms. Bachmann’s CD of 2007, includes music of Corigliano, Moravec, Ravel, Copland and Gershwin, and was released on Allegro/Endeavour Classics. It was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as the "North American CD of the Month" in May 2007, and selected as Classical Gold: Top Ten cds of 2007 by NPR's WGBH in Boston.

Ms. Bachmann has been equally successful as a performer of the established repertoire
and as champion of contemporary music. Her recordings for the BMG/Conifer label of the Beethoven and Mendelssohn violin concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Libor Pesek have been praised for their elegance and musical insight. Ms. Bachmann's CD of Beethoven and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic was reissued on Sony Classics in 2010.

Her CD Fratres features a recital of works by John Corigliano, Arvo Pärt, Paul Moravec, Albert Glinsky and Olivier Messiaen on the BMG/Catalyst label. This issue drew critical plaudits, receiving a “Best Classical Recording of the Year” rating from the New York Daily News. It was subsequently re-issued on the Sony/RCA Red Seal label in 2005. Other discs include Kiss On Wood for BMG/Catalyst, Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra by Ian Krouse for the Koch label, Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata and George Rochberg's Sonata for the Connoisseur Society, Lou Harrision's Suite for Violin and String Orchestra for Koch, and Lou Harrison's Concerto in Slendro for Argo.

As an eminent proponent of new music, Ms. Bachmann has given the world premiere of many new works including those of George Rochberg, Leon Kirchner, James MacMillan, Sebastian Currier, Daniel Bernard Roumain and 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec, who has written a total of fourteen works for Ms. Bachmann ranging from a violin concerto to works for violin and piano, and other chamber forms. Moravec’s 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Tempest Fantasy, was composed for her chamber group, Trio Solisti, with whom she maintains an active touring schedule.

As founding violinist of Trio Solisti (with cellist Alexis Gerlach and pianist Jon Klibonoff), Bachmann has performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, an all Brahms concert at the Caramoor Center for Performing Arts, and toured in Canada and Italy. She has made numerous recordings with Trio Solisti including their own arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (paired with Ravel's trio), Brahms Trios, Tempest Fantasy (music of Paul Moravec), and their latest cd, Cafe Music, was released on the Bridge label in May 2009. Trio Solisti celebrates their 10th Anniversary in the 2011-12 season.
www.triosolisti.com

Ms. Bachmann is the Artistic Director of Telluride MusicFest in Colorado, an annual festival which presents its' 10th year of programs in 2012. Trio Solisti is the founding ensemble and performs chamber music concerts there with guest artists. The festival presents themes such as Vienna to Budapest (2012), Vive La France (2011), From Russia With Love (2010), Celebrating Mendelssohn and Glass (2009), Passionate Romantics (2008), Greatest Masterworks (2007), The Gypsy Spirit (2006), and A Brahms Celebration (2005), among others. Philip Glass was the Composer-in-Residence in 2009 and Paul Moravec was Composer-in-Residence in 2005.

Maria performs every year at various festivals around the U.S. including Philip Glass's Days and Nights Festival in Carmel, CA, The Moab Festival in Utah, The Caramoor, Maverick and Skaneateles Festivals in New York, Bravo! Festival in CO, The Laguna Beach Festival in CA, The Amelia Island Festival in FL, and The Cape Cod Festival in MA.

Maria Bachmann studied at The Curtis Institute of Music with Ivan Galamian and Szymon Goldberg, and was awarded Curtis's Fritz Kreisler Prize for outstanding graduating violinist.
She coached chamber music with Joseph Gingold, Felix Galimir, and Mischa Schneider.
Ms. Bachmann performs on a 1782 violin by Nicolo Gagliano. www.mariabachmann.com