Ernst Kovacic (born 12 April 1943 in

Kapfenberg Kapfenberg () is a city in the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district of the Austrian state of Styria. It lies in the valley of the Mürz river in central Austria. With an estimated population of 22,080 individuals in 2024, it is the third largest city in S ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

) is an Austrian violinist and conductor.

Studies

Ernst Kovacic studied violin, piano and organ at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and took composition lessons there. He has been teaching at the university since 1975. In 1971 he won first prize in the violin section of the

Maria Canals International Music Competition The Maria Canals International Music Competition (, ) is a music competition held yearly in the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona. It was founded as a piano competition in 1954, but in 1964 it was expanded so other modalities could be held oc ...

, and in 1972 he won third prize in the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition () is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and is held once a year in Munich, usually in September. Since its inception in 1952, it h ...

in Munich. Kovacic plays a violin by

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Po ...

from 1753.

New music

Kovacic is a performer of new music. Contemporary composers such as

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

Friedrich Cerha Friedrich Cerha (; 17 February 1926 – 14 February 2023) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and academic teacher. His ensemble in Vienna was instrumental in spreading contemporary music in Austria. He composed several operas, beginning with ...

Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (2000) topped the li ...

Johannes Maria Staud Johannes Maria Staud (born 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer. Biography Staud was born in Innsbruck and studied with, among others, Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell (at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna). In 1999/ ...

Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2018 ...

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

Nigel Osborne Nigel Osborne (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. Known for his e ...

Helmut Eder Helmut Eder (December 26, 1916, Linz – February 8, 2005, Salzburg) was an Austrian composer. Eder studied until 1948 at the Linz Conservatory, later studying with Johann Nepomuk David in Stuttgart and Carl Orff in Munich. Returning to Linz, ...

, Iván Eröd,

Gerhard Präsent Gerhard Präsent (born 21 June 1957) is an Austrian composer, conductor and academic teacher. Professional career Born in Graz, Präsent studied from 1976 at the Musikhochschule Graz, composition with Iván Erőd and conducting with Milan Horv ...

Kurt Schwertsik Kurt Schwertsik (born 25 June 1935) is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is known for creating the "Third Viennese School" and spreading contemporary classical music. Life Schwertsik was born in Vienna. A pupil of Joseph Marx and Karl Schis ...

, Karlheinz Essl junior, and others have composed works for him.

Performance collaborations

Kovacic has played with ensembles such as the

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. It also gave mont ...

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) is a German chamber orchestra based in Stuttgart. Its principal concert venue is the . History Karl Münchinger founded the orchestra in 1945, and served as its chief conductor until ...

, St Paul Chamber Orchestra,

Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Det Norske Kammerorkester or The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (established in 1977) is a chamber orchestra based in Oslo. Biography The orchestra was founded by the violinist Bjarne Fiskum who got the idea for a summer course for young string tale ...

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no o ...

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of contemporary composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countri ...

Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...

Camerata Bern Located in Bern, Switzerland, the Camerata Bern was founded in 1963 as a conductorless, flexible chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionall ...

and the

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (''unofficial English translation'': Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic) is a chamber orchestra based in Bremen (Germany), with place of residence in the historical building Stadtwaage. History A group of ...

. Since 2008, he has been the violinist of the Zebra Trio with

Steven Dann Steven Dann (born December 27, 1953) is a Canadian violist. Early years Dann was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. He played the violin until 1970, when he switched to the viola. He began studying with Lorand Fenyves in Toronto in 1972, and c ...

and

Anssi Karttunen Anssi Karttunen (born 1960) is a Finnish cellist. Karttunen's repertoire ranges from the early baroque to living composers and improvisation. He has performed with many orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the Philharmonia, BB ...

Artistic directorships and festivals

From 1996 to 1998 Kovacic was artistic director of the

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...

. He has been artistic director of the Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra in Wrocław since 2007. Together with Beat Furrer, he directs the Impuls seminars for new music in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. He is the programme curator of various festivals, including the Brücken festival in Mürztal in Styria and the Leo Festival in Wrocław, Poland.

Competition jury member

In 2022, Kovacec was a member of the jury for the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition.

Selected recordings

*''World tour with

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...

'' (Camerata Salzburg), 2001 on Preiser Records *"''Schönberg and Beethoven'' (Wrocław Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum), 2010 on CD Accord *"''Ernst Krenek : Symphonic Elegy'' (Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra), 2009 at Capriccio *"''Holloway: Ancora'' (Scottish Chamber Orchestra), 2003 at NMC *"''

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 ...

: Early Chamber Music Vol. 1'', 1994 on Ondine *''Friedrich Cerha: Violin Concerto'', ORF Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Bertrand de Billy col legno 2006 *":'Bernhard Stevens : Concerto for Violin and Orchestra & Symphony No. 2'' ( BBC Philharmonic Orchestra ), 2009 on Meridian Records *"''José Manuel López López : Concerto para piano y orquesta, Concierto para violín y orquesta'' and "''Movimentos para dos pianos y orquesta'' (German Symphony Orchestra Berlin), 2009 at KAIROS Music Production *''Witold Ludoslawski : Opera Omnia 03'', 2011 on CD Accord *"''The Art of Fugue'', 2012 on CD Accord *Hanna Kulenty Music 4, (Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra) 2011 at Dux *"''Ernst Krenek Works for Chamber Orchestra'', Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra, 2012 Toccata Classics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacic, Ernst category: living people category:1943 births Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition category:Austrian violinists Austrian conductors (music)