Julia Fischer, Artist of the Year
24-Year-Old Violinist Receives 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Award
Nov 24, 2007
The votes have been counted, leaving Julia Fischer the Artist of the Year at the U.K.’s 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Awards. The competition was fairly stiff: the 24-year-old violinist beat several other nominees including conductor Valery Gergiev, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, and soprano Natalie Dessay. Fischer was delighted to win an award in the country where she won her first music competition at the age of 11.
Much like the Classical BRIT Awards, the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Award competition relies on audience selection in determining a winner. Over 14 million listeners from 15 different classical music radio networks located in 13 countries had the opportunity to cast a vote and choose this year’s winners.
However, this was the first year that the contest has been run so democratically: in past years, critics from the Gramophone Magazine have been responsible for selecting the competition winners.
Julia Fischer Biography: German Violinist, International Performer
Born in Germany, Julia Fischer began her music career at the age of three. She was encouraged to pursue the violin by her mother, who felt that the family needed some musical diversity (several members already played keyboard instruments). At the age of 9, she entered the Munich Academy of Music.
The Artist of the Year Award is one of several prestigious competitions that Fischer has won. In 1995, she won first prize at the International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and in 1996, she won the Eighth Eurovision Competition for Young Instrumentalists. In 1997, she received the "Prix d'Espoir" award from the Foundation of European Industry.
Her instrument is the Stradivarius 1716 violin "Booth," which she uses on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Discography
Julia Fischer has recorded several works by Brahms and Mozart. However, to hear her warm tone and crisp style paired with the Russian National Orchestra, please investigate the following albums:
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto: Featuring Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, Serenade Melancolique, Op. 26, Valse - Scherzo, Op. 34, and Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, Op. 42.
Russian Violin Concertos: Featuring Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 46, Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19, and Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82.
Please read the NPR story (link under sources) to listen to several interviews with Fischer and audio clips of her music.
Sources
Huizenga, Tom. “Violinist Julia Fischer Voted Artist of the Year.” October 4, 2007. NPR Music.
“Julia Fischer.” Russian National Orchestra Press Release.
“The Classic Gramophone Awards 2007-Artist of the Year.” Gramophone Magazine.
 |
