Alexander Gilman is a German

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

, academic teacher and artistic director of the LGT Young Soloists. He has been performing internationally as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly conducting masterclasses.

Early life and education

Alexander Gilman was born on September 16, 1982, in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He grew up in a

Jewish-Russian The history of the Jews in Russia and territorial evolution of Russia, areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire a ...

family of musicians and began learning violin at the age of six. Gilman gave his debut performance at the

Gasteig The Gasteig is a currently closed cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

at seven. Beginning in 1998, he attended masterclasses of

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

Aaron Rosand Aaron Rosand (born Aaron Rosen; March 15, 1927 – July 9, 2019) was an American classical violinist and violin pedagogue. Life and career Born in Hammond, Indiana, he studied with Leon Sametini at the Chicago Musical College and with Efrem ...

Igor Ozim Igor Ozim (9 May 1931 – 23 March 2024) was a Slovenian classical violinist and Pedagogy, pedagogue. He was based in Salzburg, Austria. Life and career Igor Ozim was born in 1931 in Ljubljana. He came from a musical family: both parents played ...

, Akiko Tatsumi,

Mikhail Kopelman Mikhail Kopelman is a Russian-American violinist. He was born in 1947 in Uzhhorod and studied at the Moscow Conservatory with professors Maya Glezarova and Yuri Yankelevich. In 1973, he was awarded 2nd prize in the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Compet ...

and

Zakhar Bron Zakhar Bron ( ; born 17 December 1947) is a Russian violinist and renowned pedagogue He has been living in Western Europe since 1989. Background Bron was born in Oral, Kazakhstan to a Jewish family. His parents fled to the Soviet Union in th ...

. In the summer of 2000, he entered

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

masterclass of the violin professor

and later achieved his master's degree at

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

Musical career

Gilman gained first international media visibility in June 2006 when he won the "

WestLB Westdeutsche Landesbank (, abbreviated as WestLB) was a major German bank based in Düsseldorf, mainly controlled by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was created in 1969 by the merger of two predecessor entities respectively for th ...

Music Competition" and was presented the

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloqui ...

violin by

Frank Peter Zimmermann Frank Peter Zimmermann (born 27 February 1965) is a German violinist. Childhood He was born in Duisburg, West Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10. Since h ...

Performances

Gilman performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. His most notable concert performances include

Berliner Philharmonie The () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on Herbert-von-Karajan- ...

Kölner Philharmonie The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building ensemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Köln ...

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

Shanghai Concert Hall Cadillac·Shanghai Concert Hall is located on the intersection of Yan'an Road and South Tibet Road of Huangpu District, Shanghai, Huangpu District, Shanghai. It was founded in 1930 as Nanking Theatre. In 1949, its name was changed to Beijing Cin ...

Minato Mirai Hall and more. During his career, he has collaborated with conductors such as Neeme Jarvi, Michael Sanderling,

Dan Ettinger Dan Ettinger (; born 1971) is an Israeli conductor, opera singer and pianist. Biography Ettinger is descended from Romanian immigrants to Israel, as his father and grandmother are Holocaust survivors. He grew up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon. ...

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

Mario Venzago Mario Venzago (born 1948) is a Swiss conductor. Biography Venzago began piano studies at age five. He studied at the conservatory and the university in Zurich. He later studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. His other positions h ...

Eri Klas Eri Klas (7 June 1939 – 26 February 2016) was an Estonian conductor. He conducted or served as artistic director for the Estonian National Opera, the Finnish National Opera, the Danish Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orc ...

and Perry So.

Teaching

In 2019 Gilman was appointed visiting professor for violin at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in London. Since 2014 he is also teaching at

Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences The Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland (Kalaidos UAS) is a University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland with the departments of Business and Management, Law, Health, Music and Applied Psychology. It was founded in 1997 and today ...

(the Department of Music) in Switzerland. In 2010-2013 he taught at

as a Professor Assistant of

LGT Young Soloists

In 2013 Gilman founded LGT Young Soloists orchestra for highly gifted young soloists aged 12 to 30. The foundation had been created with the main goal to support young talents by giving them opportunity to perform on the concert stages. The ''LGT Young Soloists'' has been the first youth orchestra to record for RCA/Sony Music. The ensemble performed in a number of concert halls locations including

Vienna,

Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie (; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. The new construction resembles a hoisted sail, water wave ...

Hamburg, Berliner Philharmonie,

Mozarteum Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteum ...

, Victoria Hall Singapore and many more. Since their founding, the LGT Young Soloists have been appearing regularly at the concert halls of the metropolitan centers such as New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Moscow, Paris and Tel Aviv.

Selected works

* ''Beethoven RECOMPOSED'' with the LGT Young Soloists, a world premiere recording featuring two of the most monumental chamber music works of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

– the Kreutzer Sonata Op. 47 and the Cello Sonata Op. 69 – in new arrangements with string orchestra accompaniment. Released in 2020 on

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

. * ''Nordic Dream'' with the LGT Young Soloists including works by Dag Wiren,

Anton Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving family in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and ha ...

Michael Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, links=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, mʲɪxɐˈil ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognit ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

and

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

. Released in 2018 on

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. * ''Russian Soul'' with the LGT Young Soloists including works by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

Kurt Atterberg Kurt Magnus Atterberg (, 12 December 188715 February 1974) was a Swedish composer and civil engineer.Don Michael Randel, editor (1996). "Atterberg, Kurt", ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Pres ...

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

Christian Sinding Christian August Sinding (11 January 18563 December 1941) was a Norwegian composer. He is best known for his lyrical work for piano '' Frühlingsrauschen'' (Rustle of Spring, 1896). He was often compared to Edvard Grieg and regarded as his succ ...

Johan Svendsen Johan Severin Svendsen (30 September 184014 June 1911) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, he lived most of his life in Copenhagen, Denmark. Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a vi ...

Johan Halvorsen Johan Halvorsen (15 March 1864 – 4 December 1935) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Life Born in Drammen, he was an accomplished violinist from a very early age and became a prominent figure in Norwegian musical life. He r ...

and Jan Alm. Released in 2017 on

. * ''Volume 1, Live In Concert'' DVD with the LGT Young Soloists. Recorded live at St. Christoph am Arlberg, Austria. Released on C-Major in 2017. * ''Italian Journey'' with the LGT Young Soloists including works by Nicolo Paganini,

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece '' Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ...

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

and

Giuseppe Tartini Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia). Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the ...

. Released in 2015 on

. * Violin concertos by

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (; May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957) was an Austrian composer and conductor, who fled Europe in the mid-1930s and later adopted US nationality. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential comp ...

and

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

, Carmen Fantasy by

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca (194 ...

and the Thema from

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

box office hit

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. Recorded in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Perry So. Released in 2012 on the label OehmsClassics. * Debut CD with works by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer, and pedagogue, who is regarded amongst the most distinguished violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew :pl:Adam Tadeusz Wien ...

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

, recorded with pianist Marina Seltenreich at Bavarian Broadcasting, BR for the label Oehms Classics (Juni 2007).

Instruments

In 2006, after winning WestLB Music Competition in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Gilman was presented the Stradivari "Ex-Croall" (dating from 1684) by

, who had previously played this instrument. Gilman also plays a violin made by Ferdinando Gagliano (the last violin maker from the

Gagliano family Gagliano is the name of a famous family of Italian luthiers from Naples, dating back to the early 18th century. The Gagliano dynasty – particularly Alessandro, Nicolò I and Gennaro – are considered the high point of Neapolitan violin making. ...

) in 1795, an instrument provided by the Fahrenkamp-Schäffler Foundation.“Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition:"About Alexander Gilman”
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Awards and recognition

* 2019: Award for Best Teaching 2019 by the Kalaidos Music University, Switzerland * 2019: Three nominations for the Opus Klassik * 2014: Best Teacher Award at "Talents for Europe" Music Competition * 2013:

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

for the Barber/Korngold/Waxman/Williams CD * 2008: Scholar of the

Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben The Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben is a foundation whose purpose is the promotion of musical excellence in Germany. The organisation was founded in 1962 by Hans Sikorski and Wolfgang Essen and is based in Hamburg. The patron of the Foundation is Pr ...

(German Foundation for Musical Life) * 2006: 1st Prize in the form of a fine violin by

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinisation of names, Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', a ...

at the WestLB Music Competition, Düsseldorf * 2003: Prize winner at the International Young Violin Competition, Greece * 1997: 1st Prize at the Summit Music Festival Competition, New York * 1994: Named Honorary Citizen of

Gräfelfing Gräfelfing is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 1 km west of Munich. The name "Gräfelfing" first appears as "Grevolvinga", which as per one hypothesis could possibly name a tribe leader named "gr ...

, Munich

References

External links

Website of Alexander Gilman

Website of the LGT Young Soloists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Alexander 1982 births 21st-century German classical violinists 21st-century German male musicians Jewish classical violinists Living people German male classical violinists People from Bamberg