Veronika Hagen (born 5 May 1963, in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

. Born in Salzburg, Hagen began to learn music at the age of six with her father, who was at that time

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

Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is an Austrian orchestra, based in the town and state of Salzburg. The orchestra gives concerts in several Salzburg venues, including the '' Großes Festspielhaus'', the Great Hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum. ...

. She then continued her studies at the Musik Hochschule of Salzburg with Professor Helmut Zehetmair and at the Musik Hochschule of

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 ...

with Professor

Hatto Beyerle Hatto Beyerle (20 June 1933 – 16 October 2023) was a German-Austrian violist who played mainly as a chamber musician, conductor and academic teacher. He was a founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, and remained with the string quartet un ...

. During her studies she won several prizes, including the

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

International Viola Competition in 1984. Hagen is a founding member of the

Hagen Quartet The Hagen Quartet is an Austrian string quartet founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika (first replaced by Annette Bik, who was then replaced by Rainer Schmidt in 1987), Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg. The quartet members are teach ...

, along with her siblings Lukas, Angelika (later replaced by Rainer Schmidt) and Clemens. The quartet has performed across the world. Among a number of recordings for the

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 ...

label, Hagen collaborated with the pianist Paul Gulda on the

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 with ...

Sonatas in 1997 and, with the violinist

Augustin Dumay Augustin Dumay (born 17 January 1949) is a French violinist and conductor from Paris. Biography Dumay was invited as a soloist to appear with Yo-Yo Ma in Paris by Herbert von Karajan. Later on, he performed Béla Bartók's ''Second Concerto'' wi ...

and the Salzburg Camerata, on Mozart's Concertante. As well as her activity as a soloist, she has performed with other leading musicians, including Elena Bashkirova,

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologi ...

Gérard Caussé Gérard Caussé (born 26 June 1948, Toulouse, France) is a French violist. He gave the first performance of the celebrated '' Ainsi la nuit'' quartet by Henri Dutilleux. The first movement of Gérard Grisey's celebrated work, ''Les Espaces Acous ...

Ivry Gitlis Ivry Gitlis ( he, עברי גיטליס;‎ 25 August 1922 – 24 December 2020) was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philh ...

, Paul Gulda, Tatjana Grindenko,

Steven Isserlis Steven Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. He has led a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. Acclaimed for his profound musicianship, he is also noted for his diverse reper ...

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

, Alexander Lonquich and

Heinrich Schiff Heinrich Schiff (18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor. Early life Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. H ...

. She has also played at many international music festivals, and has performed with orchestras such as the

Tokyo Symphony Orchestra The or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra (東宝交響楽団). It assumed its present name in 1951. Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as pit orchestra for some productions at Ne ...

and

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History Er ...

References

1963 births Living people Musicians from Salzburg Austrian classical violists Women violists {{violist-stub