Steven Sam Staryk, OC is a Canadian violin virtuoso. He had a distinguished solo career and was concertmaster of several major orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Staryk was offered the concertmaster position with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra but chose to pursue solo work at that time. He appeared frequently as soloist in violin concertos with these orchestras. Staryk also had an extensive and awarded teaching career.
Peter Manning FRSA is a British conductor and violinist.
Arnold Josef Rosé was a Romanian-born Austrian Jewish violinist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic for over half a century. He worked closely with Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler. Mahler was his brother-in-law. Although not known internationally as a soloist he was a great orchestral leader (concertmaster) and player of chamber music. He was leading the Rosé Quartet for several decades.
Gilad Karni is an Israeli violist who has played in the New York Philharmonic and is currently principal viola in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as a soloist and player in chamber ensembles. A founder member of the Huberman Quartet, with which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, he has since appeared there with the Guarneri Quartet.
Alisa Weilerstein is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.
Jesse Arthur Ceci was a violinist and former concertmaster, most notably of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO), the Minnesota Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto where he did all of the solo work for Rudolf Nureyev.
Alwin Georg Kulenkampff-Post (23 January 1898 – 4 October 1948) was a German virtuoso violinist. One of the most popular German concert violinists of the 1930s and 1940s, he was considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century.
Anna Gebert is a Polish-born Finnish violinist. She is currently professor of violin at the University of Arts in Zürich ZHdK and professor of chamber music at the Music Academy in Basel, Switzerland.
Frank Xin Huang is a Chinese-born American violinist and teacher. Since 2015 he has been the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. Previous to his position in New York, Huang was the first violinist of the Ying Quartet and a professor of violin and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music, then served as the concertmaster of the Houston Symphony from 2010 to 2015. He has won several international music competitions, most notably the 2003 Naumburg Competition. Huang has concertized widely as a soloist, and his debut recording on Naxos was critically acclaimed.
Tōru Yasunaga is a Japanese violinist. Yasunaga is an active chamber musician and soloist, and was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1977, serving as concertmaster from 1983 until his retirement from the orchestra in March 2009.
Albert Pratz was a Canadian violinist, conductor, composer, and music educator. He was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967. His compositional output was modest and consists of only instrumental works. Some of his compositions, such as Melanie Waltz (1956) and A Tango (1957), were recorded by the CBC Symphony Orchestra; of which he was concertmaster from 1953 to 1961. He worked in the same capacity for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1966 to 1969, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1979. He was also active as a teacher, both privately and at a number of universities, and made recordings as both a violinist and conductor.
Vesko Eschkenazy is a violinist who serves as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's concertmaster.
Ania Safonova is a Russian-Israeli violinist, the Associate Concertmaster of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She has recently been appointed as Director of the ManningCamerata Chamber Players.
Amihai Grosz is an Israeli violist. From 1995 to 2009, he was the violist with the Jerusalem Quartet. Since 2010, Grosz has been the Principal Violist of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Daishin Kashimoto is a Japanese classical violinist. Since 2009, he has been the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Noah Bendix-Balgley is an American classical violinist. He is currently First Concertmaster with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He served as concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2014.
Siegfried Paul Otto Borries was a German violinist and violin educator.
Franz-Josef Kupczyk was a German violinist and soloist. Since 1957 he was 1st concertmaster of the Bremer Philharmoniker and at the Theater Bremen at Goetheplatz.
Wolfgang Marschner was a German violinist, teacher of violin, composer and conductor. He was concertmaster of the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and instrumental in world premieres of contemporary music. He was professor at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, the Musikhochschule Köln, the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music and, for more than three decades, at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. He also taught at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.
Diana Tishchenko is a Ukrainian born classical violinist and the winner of the International Long Thibaud Crespin Competition in Paris 2018. Named "Rising Star" by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) in 2020, she has performed at the leading concert halls of Europe.
