Gidon Kremer
| Gidon Kremer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 February 1947 Riga, Latvia, Soviet Union |
| Genres | Classical |
| Website | http://www.gidonkremer.net |
| Notable instruments | |
|
Violin Nicolo Amati 1641 Guarneri del Gesù 1730 Baron Feilitsch Stradivarius 1734 |
|
Gidon Kremer (Latvian: Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director and founder of Kremerata Baltica.
Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust. His mother had German-Swedish origins. His grandfather was a well-known musicologist and violinist in Riga. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather who were both professional violinists. He went on to study at the Riga School of Music, where his teacher was mainly Voldemar Sturestep. From 1965 Gidon Kremer studied with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1967, he won third prize at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels; then, in 1969, second prize at the Montreal International Violin Competition (shared with Oleh Krysa) followed by first prize at the Paganini Competition in Genoa; and finally first prize again in 1970 at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Kremer's first concert in the West was in Vienna's Musikverein in the year 1970, where he played with Thomas Schippers and the Wiener Symphoniker. He debuted in Germany at the festival Bachwoche Ansbach and in the Berlin Philharmonie in 1975 and in London under André Previn in 1976, followed by appearances at the Salzburg Festival in 1976 and in New York City and in Japan in 1977. In 1980, he left the USSR and settled in Germany. In 1981, Kremer founded a chamber music festival in Lockenhaus, Austria, with a focus on new and unconventional programming, serving as artistic director for 30 years until 2011. In 1997, Kremer founded the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, composed of young players from the Baltic region. He was also among the artistic directors of the festival "Art Projekt 92" in Munich and is director of the Musiksommer Gstaad festival (1996/97) and Basel ("les musiques") in Switzerland. In 2007-2008, he and Kremerata Baltica toured with the classical musical comedy duo Igudesman & Joo. He also made regular appearances at the Verbier Festival until the summer of 2011, when he publicly criticised the perceived 'star culture' aspect of the festival and withdrew from the festival.
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