Alina Pogostkina (born 18 November 1983 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) is a Russian-born German violinist.

Early life and education

Pogostkina is the daughter of two professional violinists. She began playing the violin at the age of four and quickly showed herself to have exceptional talent. She gave her first concerts at the age of five. In 1992 the family moved to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Germany, where the eight-year-old Alina and her parents initially had to make a living as street musicians. Pogostkina has competed with success in several international violin competitions. She won the 1997

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

Competition, won fourth prize at the

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

in 2001, and in 2005 she won first prize at the Ninth

International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, named after Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, is a competition for violinists up to age 30. It is held every five years in Helsinki. The first competition took place in year 1965, eight years after ...

in Helsinki, as well as a special prize for the best interpretation of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.Vesa Sirén
''From Busker to Sibelius Violin Competition winner''
From: ''Helsingin Sanomat'', 4 December 2005 At the time of her victory in the Sibelius competition, Pogostkina was studying at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in Berlin, where she was a student of

Antje Weithaas Antje Weithaas (born 1966) is a German classical violinist. Apart from solo recitals and chamber music performances, she has played with leading orchestras in Europe, Asia and the United States. Career Born in Guben, Weithaas studied at the ...

. She currently lives in Berlin.

Career

Pogostkina has performed with many of the world's major orchestras. At the time of the Sibelius competition she played a modern violin. She played a

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. Since February 2013, she has been playing the Stradivarius Sasserno (1717) from

Nippon Music Foundation The (NMF) is an organisation under the supervision of the Arts and Culture Promotion Division, Agency for Cultural Affairs, a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education. Established 3 March 1972, its stated purpose is to develop internat ...

External links

*
Website of the Jean Sibelius Violin CompetitionHelsingin Sanomat article about Pogostkina's victory in the Jean Sibelius Violin CompetitionAlina Pogostkina
HarrisonParrott management
Sibelius Violin Concerto

References

German classical violinists German women violinists Russian classical violinists Russian women violinists 1983 births Living people Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition prize-winners 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century German musicians 21st-century women musicians Women classical violinists {{violinist-stub