Franziska Hoelscher

Franziska Hoelscher is a German violinist born (in Heidelberg) on November 9, 1982 (Heifetz was 81 years old.) She began her studies at the age of five, her first teacher being Dietmar Mantel (Academy of Music, Mannheim, Germany.) Even though Hoelscher is a concert violinist with a very extensive repertoire, she has a very strong affinity to chamber music and has studied with various artists who are very closely connected to that intimate musical art. While she is now completing her conservatory studies with violinist Nora Chastain (violinist - granddaughter of American composer Roy Harris) in Berlin, she has already embarked on a concertizing career. Many other violinists before her have done the same thing, including Joshua Bell, Salvatore Accardo, Chloe Hanslip, Leonid Kogan, and Midori. Hoelscher’s debut took place in 1999 at the Philharmonie of Cologne. She was 16 years old. Her teachers have included Ulf Hoelscher (not related to her), Thomas Brandis (former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic) Ana Chumachenko (professor at the Advanced Music School in Munich), Rainer Kussmaul (former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic), and Walter Levin (first violin of the LaSalle Quartet), among several others. In 1999, she won the international Radio Competition in Prague – her first important win in a competition. That was followed by her winning different prizes and awards at international competitions in the Netherlands, in Berlin, and at the Competition of the German Conservatories. For many years she was the first violinist of the Viktor Ullmann Quartet, named after the Austrian composer who was a sad casualty of a concentration camp in 1944. She has performed with Adrian Brendel (cellist, son of pianist Alfred Brendel), Ivry Gitlis (violinist), Martin Helmchen (pianist), Sebastian Manz (clarinetist), and Gustav Rivinius (cellist), among many other artists. Many of her performances as soloist and chamber musician have taken place at the Philharmonie in Berlin (home of the Berlin Philharmonic), Philharmonie in Cologne, the Konzerthaus (Berlin), the Gewandhaus (Leipzig), the Liederhalle (Stuttgart), and the Rudolfinum in Prague. She has already concertized throughout Europe, Asia, and the U.S. (New York, Washington D.C., Boston, etc.) Hoelscher has also performed and recorded for many radio and television networks in Germany, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. Classical artists in Europe are fortunate to have radio and television as additional venues whereas in the U.S., these are totally closed to our solo violinists and other classical musicians. Alongside her concert performances, she has been a part of the Rhapsody in School organization founded by Lars Vogt (pianist), which is committed to bringing classical music into schools. Her 2011 agenda includes her graduation, exploring new music, and expanded concertizing. Hoelscher plays a very rare violin – a Daniel Parker (1717.)