Matthias Wollong (born 31 December 1968) is a German violinist.

Career

Born in Berlin, Wollong began playing the violin at the age of five. After training in the

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

of Werner Scholz, he went to Switzerland from 1987 to 1989 to study with violinist and pedagogue Tibor Varga. During this time, he performed as a soloist in the Federal Republic, France and Switzerland. He ended his studies there by winning the violin competition named after his teacher. Further prizes followed, such as the main prize at the "Joseph Joachim" violin competition in Austria. As a soloist he has worked with the conductors

Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sym ...

, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marek Janowski,

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began hi ...

and

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...

and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

, the Berliner Symphoniker and the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar. In his younger years he was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Since 1999, Wollong has been 1st concertmaster of the Sächsische Staatskapelle, after holding the same position with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin from 1991 to 1999. During the summer months, he plays as 1st concertmaster in the orchestra of the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

. Wollong devotes himself intensively to chamber music. He has performed in various formations at the

Salzburg Easter Festival The Salzburg Easter Festival (German: ''Osterfestspiele Salzburg'') is an annual festival of opera and classical music held in Salzburg, Austria during Easter week. For most of the festival's history, the resident orchestra of the Easter Festival ...

and at the International Shostakovich Days

Gohrisch Gohrisch is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe ...

. As a chamber musician, he has released radio and CD recordings, such as the complete works for violin by

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of ...

and Wilhelm Furtwängler, the piano trios by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

( Genuin). In 2008 he received an " Echo Klassik" for the recording of chamber music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Since 2003, he has had an ongoing collaboration as conductor and soloist with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has toured Europe, the Far East and North and South America. As a conductor, he has led the German Chamber Orchestra, the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach and made guest appearances with the

Cairo Symphony Orchestra The Cairo Symphony Orchestra, ( ar, اوركسترا القاهرة السيمفونى; ''Orkestra el-Qāhera el-Semfōni''), is an orchestra based in Cairo, Egypt. It was founded in 1959 by its first music director and conductor, Franz Litschaue ...

. Wollong has a professorship at the

Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar The University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (in German: Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar) is an institution of music in Weimar, Germany. The Hochschule Franz Liszt, who spent a great deal of his life in Weimar, encouraged the founding of ...

where he also lives. He plays on a violin by

Andrea Guarneri Andrea Guarneri (1626; 1698, in Cremona) was an Italian luthier, musician and founder of the Casa Guarneri. He is the most important student of Nicola Amati and grandfather of one of the best luthiers, Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, del Gesù. Bi ...

from 1676.

Recordings

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollong, Matthias German classical violinists Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar Echo (music award) winners 1968 births Living people Musicians from Berlin