The Violin

This fine example by Antonio Stradivari, made in Cremona in 1704 is known as the "Ex-Liebig" as it once belonged to an important violin collection owned by Herr Liebig of Vienna during the late 1800's. In the early 1900's, the violin become part of another famous violin collection, The Walter Hamma Collection of Stuttgart. Some years later it passed into the hands of Madame Rauer of Vienna who in 1937 loaned the violin for exhibition at the "Bicentenario Stradivariano" in Cremona.

In 1952, Madame Rause sold the Ex-Liebig through the violin dealer Eugen Tenucci of Zurich to Professor Wolfgang Schneiderhan who for many years was Concert-master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. During his tenancy, Schneiderhan played solo concerts all over Europe and perfomed trios with Enrico Mainardi and Edmin Fischer. He also made several recordings during this period including a landmark interpretation of Ludwig Van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in 1962 with Deutsche Grammophon.

At the end of Schneiderhan's distinguished career in 1991, the Ex-Liebig was sold by Ferdinand Kugler of Vienna to the Rogoff family of New York where it remained for a decade. The violin was then passed to the Swiss dealer Claude Lebet who later sold it to the sponsors of Nikolaj Znaider. The violin was then placed in the care of Julian Rachlin, who has performed extensively all over the world on this masterpiece from the Golden Age of Cremonese violin-making.

Affiliations

Unicef – Introduced to Unicef by long-standing friend Sir Roger Moore, Julian has served as a Unicef Ambassador since 2010 and regularly donates his time for Unicef fundraising events.
More on Julian as a Unicef Ambassador…

World Economic Forum – Given Julian’s consistent dedication to humanitarian causes and emergency relief efforts, he was nominated and accepted as Young Global Leader within the World Economic Forum. In 2010, Julian participated in an event presented by the WEC at Carnegie Hall in collaboration with the Global Arts Leadership Initiative to raise awareness of the importance of the arts in today’s society.

FIF – First Initiative Foundation (FIF) is a charitable entity organized for engaging in projects beneficial to the Hong Kong community on a local and international basis, bringing quality of life through the support of education and creativity in arts, design, and music.
More on FIF…

Composed for Julian

Leading contemporary composers have written new works for Julian. They include: Penderecki (Chaconne and Double Concerto), Dubugnon (Piano trio and sonata Violiana), Kancheli (Chiaroscuro). In addition, Julian participated in the world premiere of Penderecki’s Sextet with Rostropovich.

Educational Outreach

Having studied with both Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatory and with Pinchas Zukerman, Julian is dedicated to pass on his musical knowledge to the next generation. Julian has served as a professor at the Vienna Conservatory since 1999 and is expanding his educational outreach internationally. In the upcoming season, Julian will give master classes at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich, and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, among others. Julian takes his teaching work as seriously as his work for Unicef and takes great joy in sharing with his students every possible tool that could help them in their artistic and human development. Despite his busy performing schedule, Julian dedicates as much time as possible to both talented young musicians in need of guidance and children who represent the audience of tomorrow. His philosophy remains that it is every established musician's responsibility to ensure the continuity and love for classical music. Additional projects are in the making and will be announced soon.

The Artist

Julian Rachlin is one of the most exciting and respected violinists of our time. For the last 24 years, he has been captivating audiences around the world with his distinctively rich sound, superb musicianship and outstanding interpretations. He has established close relationships with many of the most prestigious conductors and orchestras. Always willing to expand his musical horizons, Julian is also praised as a viola player and, most recently, as a conductor. This year marked the 12th anniversary of the internationally renowned “Julian Rachlin & Friends” festival held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a platform for creative and vibrant projects with today’s leading musicians and actors. Besides delighting his audiences with his musical performances, Julian is also receiving recognition as a young philanthropist for his charity work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and his educational outreach.

Current and upcoming highlights include concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Alan Gilbert, the Orchestre National de France and Vassily Sinaisky, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Christoph von Dohnányi and Zubin Mehta, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrey Boreyko, the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, as well as the Munich Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel. Play & Conduct performances include collaborations with the Israel Philharmonic, the Kremerata Baltica, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra.

In October 2012, Julian performed the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Double Concerto at the Vienna Musikverein with Janine Jansen and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. This concerto was commissioned by the Musikverein and is dedicated to Julian.

With his regular duo partner, pianist Itamar Golan, Julian is performing a series of recitals, including the Brahms Sonatas Cycle for violin and viola in New York, Amsterdam and Vienna.

Julian Rachlin’s recordings for Sony Classical, Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon have all been met with great acclaim.

Born in Lithuania in 1974, Julian immigrated to Vienna in 1978. He studied with the eminent pedagogue Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatory and took private lessons with Pinchas Zukerman. He gained international acclaim overnight in 1988 by winning the "Young Musician of the Year" Award at the Eurovision Competition in Amsterdam. He then became the youngest soloist ever to play with the Vienna Philharmonic, making his debut under Riccardo Muti.

Since September 1999, Julian Rachlin has been on the faculty at the Konservatorium Wien University.

Julian Rachlin plays the 1704 "ex Liebig" Stradivari, on loan to him courtesy of the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung. He also plays the 1786 viola by Nicola Bergonzi on loan to him, courtesy of Dmitry Gindin, London.

All edits to this bio must be approved by Julian Rachlin’s management.

The Conductor

Since his debut as a conductor in 1998, Julian has collaborated in play/direct performances with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Tonkunstler Symphony Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Upcoming debuts include collaborations with the Camerata Salzburg, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Moscow Virtuosi, the RTE National Symphony and the Slovenian Philharmonic.

The Viola Player

"The Viola works were perfectly judged and beautifully played." - The New York Times. In the late 90s, Julian studied with Pinchas Zukerman who strongly encouraged him to play viola for his musical development. His viola approach began with the early Haydn Quartets and today his repertoire includes all major works written for viola, both solo and in chamber music. Julian's passion for the viola resulted in Krzysztof Penderecki writing a double concerto for him, which will be premiered at the Vienna Musikverein in 2012.