Joshua Epstein (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: יהושע אפשטין; born November 14, 1940) is an Israeli musician, classical violinist and music educator. The recipient of many international prizes from violin competitions and recording labels, Epstein's work as a soloist and chamber musician is extensive. Equally extensive is his influence as a professor of violin, which extends over more than half a century. Epstein continues his work at the ''

Hochschule für Musik Saar The Hochschule für Musik Saar is a conservatory of music in Saarbrücken, Germany and dates back to 1947. From 1994 until 2002, it was named ''Hochschule des Saarlandes für Musik und Theater'' (University of Music and Drama Saarbrücken). Since ...

'' in Saarbrücken, Germany, where he has lived and taught since 1978.

Family history

Joshua Epstein was the only child of Anna (''née'' Schwertfinger) and Julian Epstei

His mother was born in present-day Izmir, Turkey to parents of Romanian-Jewish origi

Anna's family, moving southward across the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, soon arrived in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, where she and her sisters were schooled in French by the nuns of a local convent. By this time, she was one of nine living children, six girls and three boys. The family later settled just north of the ancient port city of

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

in the newly-founded municipality of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. Joshua's father's family had emigrated to Essen, Germany from Galicia several years before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

br>
Julian Epstein (1905–1984) was the youngest of six brothers. By the 1930s, he had become increasingly desperate to escape the growing threats of the Nazism, Nazi Party. After completing three years of formal education as a carpenter in Holland, Julian managed to get permission to join his brother, Walter, in Tel Aviv in 1936.

Early life and education

Joshua Epstein was born on November 14, 1940. His parents continued to live in the same small apartment in which he was born, on HaShoftim Street, until 1975. As a child, Joshua spoke French with his mother, German with his father and Hebrew outside of the home and in school. Joshua received his first violin lessons from Yariv Ezrahi when he was 8 years old and progressed quickly. He moved to Belgium to pursue a career in violin when he was 19 years old. In Brussels, Epstein was admitted to the Royal Conservatory and studied as a student of

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

for two years, later also completing a special degree in chamber musi

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Special_Diploma_Royal_Conservatory_of_Brussels,_1964.jpg] He then transferred to the class of

André Gertler André Gertler (26 July 1907 – 23 July 1998) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Mus ...

and entered the

Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel is a Belgian academic institution for artistic training of young musicians, which was created by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and Eugène Ysaÿe. It is located in Waterloo, Belgium.3 600 m2). The initial budgetary e ...

(1962–1965) under his tuitio

After graduating, Epstein served as Gertler's assistant at the ''Hochschule für Musik und Theater'' in Hanover, Germany (1966–1972) and won prizes at several international violin competition

Awards

In 1965 Epstein flew to Helsinki, Finland for the first ever

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 ...

. He came away with second prize, the first having been won by the young

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

talent,

Oleg Kagan Oleg Moiseyevich Kagan (Russian: Оле́г Моисе́евич Кага́н; 22 November 1946 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian SFSR – 15 July 1990, Munich, West Germany) was a Soviet violinist, known for his chamber collaborations with such musicia ...

. He then entered the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in the city of his ''alma mater'' in 1967. As a finalist, he performed the Sibelius Concerto, Op. 47; the Hindemith 4th Violin Concerto and the Bartok 1st Rhapsodie, et al. A year later, Epstein went on to win first prize at the 1968 City of London Carl Flesch Competition. The Queen Elisabeth Competition takes place every four years. Epstein entered again in 1971 and was again a finalist. This time, he played the Mendelssohn Concerto, Op. 64; the Wieniawski Polonaise in D major.

Career

After his competition successes, Epstein launched his career as a soloist and over the next 40 years performed with many orchestras across the Continent: the Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, RIAS Berlin, ''Saarländischer Rundfunk'', NDR Hamburg, ''Bayerischer Rundfunk'', ''Bayerische Staatsoper'', ''Nürnberger Symphoniker'', ''Berliner Symphoniker'', to mention just a few. He is especially known for his interpretations of Bach, Mozart, Paganini and Bartók and has given recitals in France, Germany, Belgium, England, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, the United States and Canada; Israel, Turkey, Iran and South Korea. Between 1971 and 2005, Epstein performed all 24 Paganini Caprices in concert six time

In 1997 he recorded them for the Agora label in two days.

Chamber music

The Bartholdy String Quartet was founded in 1968 by a group of young musicians performing and teaching at music academies in the German cities of Karlsruhe and Würzburg. When an accident forced their original viola player to resign, the group's first violinist, Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn, decided to change instruments. Thus the Bartholdy Quartet was in need of a first violinist. In 1972, Epstein traveled to Linkenheim, near Karlsruhe, to meet with them. With Jahn playing viola, Annemarie Dengler-Speermann as the group's cellist, Max Speermann as second violin and Epstein as the new ''primarius'', they toured throughout Europe, North America and the near east to great acclaim. The group worked together from 1972 until 1978, earning the ''

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis The Deutscher Schallplattenpreis was a prize that the awarded from 1963 through 1992. Its successor is the Echo Music Prize Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to rec ...

'' and the ''

Grand Prix du disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

'' for their recordings of Mendelssohn and Schubert. Later, from 1988 until 1993, Epstein served as musical director of the '' Saarbrücker Kammermusiktage'', an annual chamber music festival in Saarbrücken.

Teaching

Joshua Epstein's violin teaching was influenced by the Hungarian violinist André Gertler and by the

Feldenkrais Method The Feldenkrais Method (FM) is a type of movement therapy devised by Israeli Moshé Feldenkrais (1904–1984) during the mid-20th century. The method is claimed to reorganize connections between the brain and body and so improve body movement and ...

. Among his many teaching positions, Epstein has served as Professor of Violin at the

University of Music Würzburg A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(1974–1978), ''

Conservatoire de Strasbourg The Conservatoire de Strasbourg is a music conservatory located in Strasbourg, France. The school has about 1800 students. History of the Conservatory of Strasbourg The school was created using funds given to the city of Strasbourg by arts pat ...

'' (1994–2005), the ''Hochschule für Musik Saar'' (1978–present) and the Dokuz Eylul University State Conservatory in Izmir, Turkey (2012-2018). Epstein has given masterclasses in cities around the world, including Italy, Belgium, France (Moulin d'Andé), Turkey, South Korea, ''et al''. Epstein is the director of the annual International Summer Academy Schwetzingen-Worms, an annual two-week music festival and master class founded in 2003.

Partial discography

Chamber music

Bartholdy Quartett

Performed by Joshua Epstein, first violin; Max Speermann, second violin; Jörg-Wolfgang Jahn, viola; Annemarie Dengler-Speermann, cello: * 1979: Beethoven, Ludwig van. ''String Quartet No. 13; No. 17'' (Grosse Fuge'''). EMI Electrola 1C 063-30 847. * 1978: Schubert, Franz. ''String Quartet No. 15.'' EMI Electrola 1C 063-30 788. * 1976: Debussy, Claude. ''String Quartet No. 1'', and Paul Hindemith, ''String Quartet No. 3''. EMI Electrola 1C 057-30 694. * 1974: Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix. ''Complete String Quartets, Vol. II.'' BASF 39 21966-6. Digitally re-issued on CD: Acantha 43 075.Award recipient: ''Grand Prix du disque'' and ''Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.'' * 1973: Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix. ''Complete String Quartets, Vol. I.'' Acantha-Bellaphon CD 43 075.

Other

* 1998: Strauss, Richard. ''Piano Quartet, Op. 13 and Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 18''. Performed by J. Epstein, J. C. Vanden Eynden, V. Mendelssohn, A. Dmitriev. * 1975: Beethoven, Ludwig van. ''Septet, Op. 20''. Perf. by J. Epstein, J. W. Jahn, A. Bylsma, A. Woodrow, P. Honingh, A. van Woudenberg, and B. Pollard. BASF 20 22234-9.

Violin solo

Performed by Joshua Epstein, violin: * 1998: Bach, Johann Sebastian. ''Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin''. Agorá AG 110.2. * 1998: Fireworks for Violin. Uwe Brandt, piano. Agorá AG 142.1. * 1997: Paganini, Niccolò. ''24 Caprices, Op. 1''. Agorá AG 108.1. * 1986: Bloch, Ernest. ''Poème Mystique, Baal-Schem Suite, Avodah/Melodie''. Eugène de Canck, piano. Schwann Musica Mundi VMS 1053. * 1973: Beethoven, Ludwig van. ''Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer"'' and Bela Bartók, ''Sonata for Solo Violin''. Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 2555 009.

Other

* 1997: Saarbrücker Kammermusiktage. Bela Bartók, ''Kontrasts'': J. Epstein, S. Douwes, D. Blumenthal; Maurice Ravel, ''Sonate No. 2 for Violin and Piano'': J. Epstein, N. Shetler. Saarländischer Rundfunk 97.020. * 1992: Musik aus dem Saarland. Bela Bartok ''et al''. ''Rhapsodie No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra''. Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Saarbrücken. Arbeit und Kultur Saarland GmbH 97082/1.

References

External links

Joshua Epstein Official Website

International Summer Academy Schwetzingen-Worms

Hochschule für Musik Saar, Prof. Joshua Epstein, violin

Queen Elisabeth Competition Personalities: Joshua Epstein

Live Recordings: Bloch '''Nigun'''Sarasate Zapateado'''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Joshua 1940 births Violin educators Male classical violinists Deutsche Grammophon artists Paganini Competition prize-winners Grand Prix du Disque winners Jewish Israeli musicians EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists 20th-century classical violinists Jewish classical violinists Israeli classical violinists Queen Elisabeth Competition Musicians from Tel Aviv Living people 21st-century classical violinists 20th-century male musicians 21st-century Israeli male musicians Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg