Artist Biography
Maria Bachmann, Violin
Hailed by The New York Times as "a violinist of soul and patrician refinement", Maria Bachmann has achieved international prominence through her acclaimed recordings and performances. Ms. Bachmann has been honored by both Musical America and New YorkNewsday as "Outstanding Artist of the Year", and has been profiled by Mirabella, Time Magazine, CD Review and New York Newsday as one of the premier artists of her generation. She has won numerous competitions including first prize at the Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna, the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York, the Pro Musicis Competition and the Palm Beach International Competition.
Maria Bachmann has been a featured soloist with leading orchestras and in recital around the world. She has performed in New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Taipei, Vienna, Budapest, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco and Boston among others. She has made acclaimed debuts with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, with the National Symphony at The Kennedy Center, Marin Alsop and the Pacific Symphony, and in the fall on 2001 gave performances of John Corigliano's "Red Violin" at the Chicago Humanities Festival and with the Richmond Symphony in Indiana.
Ms. Bachmann is an eminent proponent of contemporary music and has been praised for her romantic and deeply personalized approach to contemporary repertoire. Several of America's most prominent composers including George Rochberg, Leon Kirchner, Paul Moravec, and Sebastian Currier, have written works for her. Of Hungarian descent, Ms. Bachmann is noted for her performance of Bela Bartok, and was invited by the Library of Congress to recreate the legendary Szigeti/Bartok recital of 1940 in a nationally broadcast performance.
Her BMG/Catalyst recordings have generated raves in the critical press; in a review of her 1993 debut, "Fratres", New York Newsday crowned Ms. Bachmann "the most exciting young violinist around", and named the release "the best classical recording of the year". Her recording on BMG/Conifer of the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos with The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and conductor Libor Pesek has garnered raves as well. Gramaphone magazine said, " Ms. Bachmann gives a powerful performance of the Beethoven Cto., and she brings a sweet tone and flawless technique to a winning performance of the Mendelssohn Cto." Ms. Bachmann has also recorded for Argo, Koch, CRI, and the Connoisseur Society.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Bachmann has performed as guest artist with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The American Chamber Players, Music from the Copland House, and has appeared at many festivals including Caramoor, Norfolk, Moab Chamber Festival, Grand Canyon, Chamber Music Northwest, Maverick Concerts, Cape & Islands, Princeton Summer Concerts, Peninsula Festival, Cooperstown Festival, and Nantucket Musical Arts. She has recently become a member of the Lark Quartet, and is a member of Trio Solisti. Ms. Bachmann is the Artistic Director of the Trio's six part concert series presented by the Morgan Library in New York City, and she is the Artistic Director of the San Juan Islands Chamber Music Festival in Guemes, WA.
Maria Bachmann plays a 1986 violin by the American maker Sergio Peresson. She studied at The Curtis Institute of Music where her teachers were Ivan Galamian and Szymon Goldberg. Ms. Bachmann is currently on the faculty of Adelphi University in Garden City, NY.