Julian Rachlin (born 8 December 1974) is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n-born

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, violist and conductor.

Biography

Born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In 1983, he entered the

Konservatorium Wien The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (; MUK) in Vienna, Austria, is a university of music and the arts. It was previously (2005−2015) named (KONSuni, Konservatorium Wien University), and before that (Conservatory of Vienna). I ...

and studied violin in the Soviet tradition with Boris Kuschnir, while also receiving private lessons from

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

. His career as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

began with his first public concert in 1984. In 1988, he took the title of Eurovision Young Musician of the Year, which led to his being invited to appear at the Berlin Festival with

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

and to his becoming the youngest soloist to ever play with the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

, under the direction of

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

. In 2000, he joined Rostropovich and

Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of Abram Borisovich Bashmet and Maya Zinovyeva Bashmet (née Kri ...

, among others, in the premiere of

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

Sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

. The same year, Rachlin also founded his own music festival in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

, "Julian Rachlin and Friends". Since 2000, he has also played the concerto and chamber repertoire for the viola. In 2005, Rachlin made his

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

debut when he performed with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

and Lorin Maazel. In 2014, Rachlin was appointed principal guest conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. In 2018, he became principal guest conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. In November 2022, the KSO announced the appointment of Rachlin as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2023-2024 season. In January 2023, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Rachlin as its next music director, effective with the 2023–2024 season Rachlin plays the "ex Liebig"

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 ...

violin (which is loaned to him by its owner, the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung). In 2000, he was awarded the International Prize of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

References

External links

* *(April 23, 2009)
Let's Dance
''The Star Online''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rachlin, Julian 1974 births Living people Austrian classical violists Austrian classical violinists Male classical violinists Lithuanian emigrants to Austria Musicians from Vienna Eurovision Young Musicians winners 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century male musicians 21st-century violists