Marina Chiche (born 10 November 1981, in Marseille) is a French classical violinist.Marina Chiche
on Actes Sud

Biography and career

Marina Chiche was born in Marseilles in 1981. She started playing the violin at the age of 3.

Education and Training

Chiche studied at the with

Jean Ter-Merguerian Jean Ter-Merguerian ( hy, Ժան Տեր-Մերկերյան; Marseille, 5 October 1935 – Marseille, 29 September 2015) was a French-Armenian virtuoso violinist and violin pedagogue. Biography Jean Ter-Merguerian has got the first prize for violin ...

. At the age of 16 she began studying at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris where she obtained four first prizes, in violin,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

(class of Pierre-Laurent Aimard), analysis and aesthetics. She continued honing her skills with

Boris Kuschnir Boris Kuschnir (born 1948) is a Ukrainian-born Austrian violinist and academic. Background and early life Born in Kyiv in 1948, he studied violin with at the Moscow Conservatoire and chamber music with Valentin Berlinsky of the Borodin Quartet. ...

in Vienna, then with

Ana Chumachenco Ana Chumachenco is an Italian born violinist of Argentinian, Ukrainian, and German descent. Biography Ana Chumachenco was born in Padova, Italy, on 23 June 1945. From the age of four, Chumachenco practiced violin under the guidance of her fathe ...

at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, and Ferenc Rados in Budapest. She obtained a master's degree in

Early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

at the Berlin University of the Arts. Chiche took numerous master classes with renowned musicians such as Joseph Silverstein, Ida Haendel,

Gerhard Schulz Gerhard Schulz (1 June 1931 – 2 October 2008) was a German equestrian who competed in the sport of eventing. He was born in Hartensdorf, Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germ ...

and

György Kurtag György () is a Hungarian language, Hungarian version of the name ''George (given name), George''. Some notable people with this given name: * György Alexits, as a Hungarian mathematician * György Almásy, Hungarian asiologist, traveler, zoolog ...

. In 2016, she received a doctorate degree in "aesthetics, theory and practice of the arts" at the University of Lille.

Performances and recordings

In 2003, she recorded her debut: the complete sonatas of Brahms with pianist

Vahan Mardirossian Vahan Mardirossian (born 26 May 1975, in Yerevan) is an Armenian pianist and conductor. Life Settled in Paris in 1993, Mardirossian entered the Conservatoire de Paris in Jacques Rouvier's piano class, and was also admitted in Jean Mouillère's ...

, which was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Chiche participated in the recording of Éric Tanguy's "Chamber Music" for the ''Transart Live'' label. In 2008, she recorded the solo album ''After reading Bach,'' which included an eponymous composition by

Karol Beffa Karol Beffa, born on October 27, 1973 in Paris, is a French and Swiss composer and pianist. Biography Karol Beffa had a general education along with music studies, at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, consisting of history, English, ph ...

, as well as pieces by Bach, Prokofiev and Ysaÿe. Chiche has performed all over the world as a soloist with orchestra, in recital as well as in chamber music. As a soloist she played with orchestras such as

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is an orchestra and a musical institution based in Warsaw, Poland. It was founded in 1984 by Yehudi Menuhin, Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, as a successor to the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Since 2003 the or ...

, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre National de Bretagne,

Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse The Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse is a French symphonic orchestra based in Mulhouse, in the Alsace region. Its principal venue is ''La Filature''. History The Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse has its origins in the small municipal orchestra f ...

and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa. She also performed alongside Joseph Silverstein, Gérard Caussé, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon,

Marc Coppey Marc Coppey (born 1969 in Strasbourg) is a French contemporary classical cellist. Biography In 1988 at the age of 18, Marc Coppey won the two highest prizes of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition: the first prize and the special ...

, Jérôme Pernoo, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Jonathan Gilad, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Augustin Dumay,

Florent Boffard Florent Boffard (born in 1964) is a French classical pianist and pedagogue. Biography Boffard received his first musical training at the Conservatoire National de Région de Lyon. In 1976, he was a pupil of Yvonne Loriod's piano class at the C ...

, Anssi Karttunen, Magnus Lindberg, and Chen Halevi. Since 2013, she regularly plays in a duo with pianist Abdel Rahman El Bacha, in which both play by heart. In 2014, Chiche performed Vivaldi's ''

Four Seasons The Four Seasons, originally referring to the traditional seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter (typical of a temperate climate), may refer to: Music * ''The Four Seasons'' (Vivaldi), a 1725 set of four violin concertos by Antonio Viv ...

'' in La Folle Journée held in Tokyo. In 2020 she recorded the album ''Post-scriptum'' in duet with the pianist Aurélien Pontier, which received excellent reviews, including a 5 stars review from Classica. Marina Chiche plays a Neapolitan violin by Giuseppe Gagliano from 1762. Since 2020 she also plays a violin by

Giovanni Battista 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 Pol ...

from 1784, on loan from the Zilber-Vatelot-Rampal association.

Teaching

In 2009 and 2010, Chiche was a visiting professor at the National Taiwan University of Arts in Taipei. From 2013 to 2018, she taught violin and chamber music at the in Trossingen in Baden-Württemberg , Germany, where she headed the strings department. Since her return to Paris, she gives seminars on music at

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

Media and writing

Chiche writes about the backstage of the life of a musician in her blog “Everything you always wanted to know about the life of a professional musician”. She also regularly publishes articles about music in magazines, and produces programs for France Musique at Radio France. In 2021 she produced a series of podcasts about pioneering female musicians. In October that year she published the book ''Musiciennes de légende. De l'ombre à la lumière'' (“Legendary female musicians, from shadow to light”), which depicts portraits of 30 known and lesser-known 19th and 20th century musicians.

Discography

* 2020 : ''Post-scriptum'' - 18 miniatures pour violon. Hommage à Jascha Heifetz & Kreisler. Avec Aurélien Pontier, piano. Label NoMadMusic. Choix de France Musique. * 2015 : Hermann Götz – Piano Quartet / Piano Quintet avec Oliver Triendl, Peijun Xu, Niklas Schmidt, Matthias Beltinger. Label TYXart. * 2009: CD live: Granados- Kreisler, Ponce,

Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed ''nuevo tango'', incorporating elements from ...

. * 2008: Intrada. CD ''Après une lecture de J. S. Bach''. Recital for solo violin. * 2007: CD live. Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Massenet with the

French Republican Guard Band The Republican Guard Band (french: Orchestre de la Garde républicaine) is a military band unit of the French Republican Guard, which is part of the National Gendarmerie. The band is composed of 120 professional musicians from national conservato ...

. * 2007: CD autour de l’exposition Lalique; Musée du Luxembourg. Debussy, Kreisler. * 2004: DVD Victoires de la Musique with the Orchestre de Paris. * 2004: Transart live. ''Musique de chambre d’Eric Tanguy''. * 2003: CD Victoires de la Musique. * 2003: Intrada. CD complete Brahms violin and piano with

. * 2003: Culturesfrance. CD series "Déclic".