David Christian Bongartz (born 4 September 1980), known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/composers, ...

and recording artist.

Early life

When Garrett was four years old his father purchased a violin for his older brother. The young Garrett took an interest and soon learned to play. A year later, he took part in a competition and won first prize. By the age of seven, he studied violin at the Lübeck Conservatoire. When he was nine years old he gave his debut at the Festival

Kissinger Sommer The Kissinger Sommer is a classical music festival held every year in the summer in the city of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Southern Germany. History The festival was founded in 1986. At the beginning the focus of the festival was on the improvem ...

, and by the age of 12, Garrett began working with the distinguished Polish violinist

Ida Haendel Ida Haendel, (15 December 19281 July 2020) was a Polish-British-Canadian violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy, her career spanning over seven decades. She also became an influential teacher. Early career Born in 1928 to a Polish Jewish fami ...

, often traveling to London and other European cities to meet her. After leaving home at 17, he enrolled at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in London, leaving after the first semester. On being asked in an interview in 2008 if he was expelled, Garrett responded: "Well, expelled wasn't the official term… It was mutually agreed that me and the RCM were going separate ways after the first semester. I did skip some lessons – but I also broke in to do extra practice, so that didn't help!" In 1999, he moved to New York to attend the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, in 2003 winning the School's Composition Competition with a

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

composed in the style of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. While at Juilliard he studied under

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

, one of the first people to do so, and graduated in 2004. Garrett attended the

Keshet Eilon Keshet Eilon (Hebrew: ''קשת אילון'') is a music center established in the year 1990, located in Kibbutz Eilon, Israel. Its mission is to be a source of strength and support for young gifted violinists. Every summer Keshet Eilon hol ...

Masterclasses in Israel in the summers of 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2002.

Career

Garrett received his first

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

violin at the age of 11, courtesy of German president

Richard von Weizsäcker Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobilit ...

, after having performed for him. At the age of 13, Garrett recorded two CDs, appeared on German and Dutch television, and gave a concert in the residence of the President of Germany, the

Villa Hammerschmidt Hammerschmidt Villa (german: Villa Hammerschmidt) is a villa in the German city of Bonn that served as the primary official seat and primary official residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1950 until 1994. President Ric ...

, at Dr. von Weizsäcker's personal invitation. He was offered the use of the famous Stradivarius "San Lorenzo", which is among the best instruments of Antonio Stradivari's " golden period". He eventually purchased his own; made in 1772 by

Giovanni Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart P ...

; a student of Stradavari. However, in 2008, after a performance, he fell, landing on the violin which was strapped to his back, damaging it severely. He was able to get it repaired however he purchased a Stradavari soon afterward. At the age of 13, as the youngest soloist ever, Garrett signed an exclusive contract with

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. In April 1997, age 16, he played with the

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

under the direction of

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the foun ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in concerts marking the 50th anniversary of

India's Independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

. Two years later, Garrett played with the

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has also ...

under the direction of

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...

, and was hailed by critics. This led to an invitation to perform at

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially some 40 million people were expe ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. At the age of 21, he was invited to perform at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. While studying at Juilliard, Garrett supplemented his income by working as a model. David Garrett P1210415

Garrett's 2008 album ''Encore'' pursues an aim of arousing young people's interest in classical music. The release contains his own compositions and arrangements of pieces and melodies that have accompanied him in his life so far. Together with his band, consisting of keyboard, guitar and drums, he gives concerts that include classical sonatas (accompanied by a concert grand piano), arrangements, and compositions, as well as rock songs and movie themes. In Autumn 2007, Garrett was chosen by the Montegrappa firm (whose items are distributed by Montblanc throughout the world) as an ambassador for the launch of the new pens from the ''Tributo ad Antonio Stradivari'' collection. The event took place in several venues, including in Rome, New York, Hong Kong, Berlin, and London. For these occasions Garrett was offered a Stradivarius from the ''Gli Archi di Palazzo Comunale'' collection. He also appeared at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

on 5 December 2011, playing his cover of

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

's "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

". He joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers. His album, ''Music'', was released in 2012. On 19 May 2012 he appeared at the UEFA Champions League Final performing with German singer

Jonas Kaufmann Jonas Kaufmann (born 10 July 1969) is a German operatic tenor. He is best known for the versatility of his repertoire, performing a variety of opera roles in multiple languages in recitalTommasini, Anthony (21 February 2014)"A Tenor Finds Energy ...

. For 2014 he announced a new Crossover Tour. He played the lead role in the 2013 film ''

The Devil's Violinist ''The Devil's Violinist'' is a 2013 film based on the life story of the 19th-century Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. The film had its US premiere on 10 March 2014 at the Miami International Film Festival. Plot Niccolo Paga ...

'', as the noted 19th-century violinist

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...

. The same year he released his album ''Garrett vs Paganini''. His 2015 album ''Explosive'' includes the original compositions Innovation, Furious, Explosive, Unlimited Symphony, Serenity, Baroque fantasy, and Melancholia. On 18 August 2017, David Garrett released the single "Bittersweet Symphony" as a teaser for his album ''Rock Revolution'', released 17 September 2017. On 11 October 2020, Garrett performed the German national anthem at the

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

2020 Eifel Grand Prix as part of the opening ceremonies. On 9 October he released another studio album called ''Alive: My Soundtrack''.

Personal life

Garrett was born in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

to an American

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

, Dove Garrett, and a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

, Georg Bongartz. Garrett explains that while he was performing as a child prodigy, his parents started using his mother's maiden name as his stage name. "My parents kind of decided that it was more pronounceable than the German name, so I stuck with that."

Recordings

Studio albums

* ''Mozart: Violin Concertos'' with Claudio Abbado (1995) * ''Violin Sonata'' (1995) * ''Paganini Caprices'' (1997) * ''Tchaikovsky, Conus: Violin Concertos'' (1997) * ''

Pure Classics ''Pure Classics'' is a 2002 album by violinist David Garrett, published in Germany by Deutsche Grammophon and later made available in the US as David's international popularity grew. It is a kind of "best of" collection that combines many of his pr ...

'' (2002) * '' Free'' (2007) * ''

Virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

'' (2007) * ''

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

'' (2008) * ''

David Garrett David Christian Bongartz (born 4 September 1980), known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist. Early life When Garrett was four years old his father purchased a violin for his ol ...

'' (2009) * '' Classic Romance'' (2009) * ''Rock Symphonies'' (2010) * ''Legacy'' (2011) * ''Music'' (2012) * '' 14'' (2013) * ''Garrett vs. Paganini'' (2013) * ''Caprice'' (2014) * ''Timeless – Brahms & Bruch Violin Concertos'' with

and

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

(2014) * ''Explosive'' (2015) * ''Rock Revolution'' (2017) * ''Unlimited – Greatest Hits'' (2018) * ''Alive: My Soundtrack'' (2020) * ''Iconic'' (2022)

Other albums

* ''Nokia Night of the Proms'' (2004) * ''The New Classical Generation 2008'' (2008)

Featured

* ''Tenor at the Movies'' – "Parla Più Piano" (theme from ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'') and "Se" (theme from ''

Cinema Paradiso ''Cinema Paradiso'' ( it, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, , literally "New Paradise Cinema") is a 1988 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centers on the friendship between a young b ...

'') with

Jonathan Ansell Jonathan Mark Ansell (born 10 March 1982) is an English singer, best known as the high tenor of the vocal group G4 (band), G4. Early life Influenced by his mother's tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Ansell joined the West Sussex Boys' Cho ...

(2008) * ''A New World'' – "Cinema Paradiso" with

Will Martin Will Martin (born 31 August 1984) is a New Zealand-born classical crossover singer. Martin's first album, released in his native New Zealand, went platinum in 6 weeks. The album, called ''A New World'', featured songs such as "Into the West", "I ...

(2008) * ''Classical 80s Dance'' – "

Tainted Love "Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1 ...

" with

Alex Christensen Alex Christensen (born 7 April 1967), also known by his stage names Jasper Forks or Alex C., is a German dance music producer, songwriter, and DJ generally known as the face and one of the founding members of U96. Since 2002, he has been coll ...

and the Berlin Orchestra (2022)

DVD

* ''David Garrett: Live – In Concert & In Private'' (2009) * ''David Garrett: Rock Symphonies – Open Air Live'' (2011) * ''David Garrett: Legacy Live in Baden Baden'' (2011) * ''David Garrett: Music – Live in Concert'' (2012)

Filmography

Sesamstraße ''Sesamstraße'' (, Sesame Street in English) is a German children's television series in Germany, and a spin-off of the first preschool programme ''Sesame Street''. It airs primarily in Germany and the surrounding German-speaking countries. The ...

(1 episode) *Dein Song (segment "Good Times") *Alle Tage ist kein Sonntag (feat.

Till Lindemann Till Lindemann (; born 4 January 1963) is a German singer, songwriter and poet. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein and solo project Lindemann. Rammstein has sold over 25 million records w ...

)

Awards and recognition

* Radio Regenbogen Award, March 2008 * Echo Classics, Classic without borders, October 2008 * GQ Award Man of the Year category music, November 2008 * Goldene Feder, May 2009 * Goldener Geigenbogen, May 2009 * Golden Camera, Best Music International, January 2010 * World's Fastest Violinist,

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, May 2008 to December 2011 * Bambi Awards, category Classic (14 November 2013) *

Frankfurter Musikpreis The Frankfurter Musikpreis has been awarded since 1982 by the joint foundation of the Musikmesse Frankfurt and the National Association of German Musical Instruments Manufacturers. The aim of this international music award is to highlight "person ...

, 2017

References

External links

Official website

* ttp://www.cmusic.tv/watchvideo/281 Television Interview with David Garrett from C Music TV
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, David 1980 births Living people 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century German male musicians Alumni of the Royal College of Music Decca Records artists Deutsche Grammophon artists Echo (music award) winners German classical violinists German expatriates in the United Kingdom German expatriates in the United States German male models German male violinists German people of American descent German people of Russian descent German philanthropists Juilliard School alumni Male classical violinists People from Aachen Rock violinists