Simone Zgraggen (born 8 August 1975 in

Altdorf, Switzerland Altdorf (sometimes written as ''Altdorf UR'' in order to distinguish it from the other "Altdorfs"; German for "old village") is a historic town and municipality in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Swiss canton of Uri. The municipality cover ...

) is a Swiss

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at Freiburg University of Music.

Career

Simone Zgraggen began playing the

at the age of five. She studied from 1991 to 1994 at Lucerne University of Music under Alexander van Wijnkoop, from 1994 to 1995 at Basel Conservatory also under van Wijnkoop and from 1996 to 2002 at Karlsruhe University of Music under

Ulf Hoelscher Ulf Hoelscher (born 17 January 1942 in Kitzingen) is a German violinist. He has been soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has recorded numerous concertos by Sch ...

. She received all degrees with highest honors. In 2012 she was appointed to a professorship for violin at Freiburg University of Music after having taught violin classes at Zurich Conservatory from 2001 to 2012 and violin

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...

at Karlsruhe University of Music from 2001 to 2004. Simone Zgraggen is

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

Basel Sinfonietta The Basel Sinfonietta is a Swiss orchestra, based in Basel. History The Basel Sinfonietta was founded in 1980, as a self-governing ensemble, by a group of young musicians with a focus on contemporary classical music. The orchestra has presented ...

and the Zuger Sinfonietta.Official website of the Zuger Sinfonietta
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Instrument

Simone Zgraggen plays the

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 Golden Bell of 1668. She uses bows made by Louis Henri Gillet,

Alfred Lamy Alfred Lamy (1886–1922) was a French maker of bows.Mary VanClayFinding Good Values in Bows Strings Magazine, July 2000, No. 87 Son of Joseph Jean Baptiste Lamy was born in Mirecourt, Vosges, France. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt with Bazin a ...

, Claude Thomassin and a baroque bow built by Carsten G. Löschmann.

Awards and recognition

Heinrich Danioth Heinrich Danioth (1896–1953) was a Swiss painter and poet. Early life Heinrich Danioth was born on 1 May 1896 in Altdorf, Switzerland. In 1912, he received some of his basic artistic training in the Basel studio of fellow artist Rudolf ...

Arts and Culture Foundation: First Prize (2006) *

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

Conservatory Competition: First Prize (2002) *

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of Mosonmagy ...

Academy Baden-Baden, Germany: Brahms Prize and Lions Award (2001) *

Meadowmount School of Music The Meadowmount School of Music, founded in 1944 by Ivan Galamian, is a 7-week summer school in the town of Lewis (mailing address Westport) in Upstate New York for accomplished young violinists, cellists, violists, and pianists training for prof ...

: Shar Award (1999)

Discography

Claves Records Claves Records is a Swiss classical record label, which was founded in 1968 by Marguerite Dütschler-Hüber (1931–2006) in Thun. History Marguerite Dütschler-Hüber founded Claves with business partner Ursula Pfaehler when her piano teacher ...

(Claves 50-2503) :

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 ...

: The 3 Violin Sonatas (''with Ulrich Koella'') * Genuin classics (GEN 86521
Review
:

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

: String Quintet in E major, Op. 13 No. 5 (''with Schubert-Quintett'') :

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: String Quintet in C major, D 956 - Op. post. 163 (''with Schubert-Quintett'') * Bella Musica (BM 31.2345) :

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 ...

: Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra in A minor, Op. 102 (''with Grigory Alumyan and the Baden-Baden Philharmonic under Werner Stiefel'') :

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 ...

: Partita in D minor for solo violin

BWV The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...

1004

References

External links

Official website of Freiburg University of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zgraggen, Simone 1975 births Living people Swiss classical violinists Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe alumni 21st-century classical violinists Women classical violinists