SHLOMO MINTZ

BIOGRAPHY

“One of the living legends of the violin, Mintz’s charisma and beautiful sound captures the audience … “

Shlomo Mintz is considered by colleagues, audiences, and critics one of the foremost violinists of our time, esteemed for his impeccable musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique. He has long been acclaimed as a celebrated guest artist with many of the great orchestras and conductors on the international stage and continues to enchant audiences with his playing.

Awarded with many prestigious international prizes including the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Diapason D’Or, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Gramophone Award, the Edison Award and the Cremona Music Award, in 2006 he received an Honorary Degree from the Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba (Israel).

Born in Moscow and immigrated when he was 2 to Israel, he studied with Ilona Feher who introduced Mintz to Isaac Stern becoming this his mentor. He was also a student of Dorothy DeLay in New York.

On stage from an early age and along his career, he has collaborated with such a famous artists like Isaac Stern,  Mstislav Rostropovich, Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti, Yuri Temirkanov, Ida Haendel and Ivry Gitlis, among many others, and played with the best orchestras in the world as the Berlin, Vienna, Concertgebouw, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York Philharmonic 

At 18 years old, Mintz launched a parallel career as a conductor, and has since led acclaimed orchestras worldwide including the Royal Philharmonic (United Kingdom), the NHK Symphony (Japan), and the Israel Philharmonic.

To celebrate Mintz’s 60th birthday, Deutsche Grammophon have re-released his recordings as a 13-CD edition that includes the legendary recordings of the Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Lalo, and Vieuxtemps violin concertos with great orchestras and conductors. Recently, Mintz added composing to his talents as violinist, violist, and conductor: his Anthem to an Unknown Nation was premiered in June 2017 at the Vigadó Grand Hall, Budapest, and his Sonatina for violin and piano premiered in Domodossola and Istanbul in October 2017.

Mintz regularly gives master classes worldwide and is invited by the most prestigious international competitions. He is also a co-founder of the Violins of Hope.