Gordan Nikolitch, also spelled Gordan Nikolić, ( sr, Гордан Николић; born 1968) is a Franco-Serbian

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 regu ...

ist. He was the first

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

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

for nearly 20 years, having stepped down in October 2017 to concentrate on directing and teaching.

Biography and career

Born in a music loving family, Gordan Nikolitch began playing the violin when he was seven. He studied at the

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

, Switzerland, with Jean-Jacques Kantorow. He also met and worked with Walter Levin, Wytold Lutoslavsky, György Kurtág,

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

etc, cultivating an interest in contemporary music. As a violinist, he participated and was awarded in many competitions, the Tibor Varga competition,

Paganini competition The Paganini Competition (aka Premio Paganini or Paganini Concore) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso and founder of contemporary violin technique Niccolò Paganini. Created in 1954 it has been carried out ever si ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, Italy,

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

and Vaclav Hummel competition at

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. In 1989, he became concertmaster of Orchestre d'Auvergne, a post he held until 1999. Nikolitch has been as well the leader of the

Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne The Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra) is a Swiss chamber orchestra of around 40 musicians based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It has a vast repertoire, from the earliest baroque to contemporary premieres. The founder Vi ...

and the

Chamber Orchestra of Europe The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE), established in 1981, is an orchestra based in London. The orchestra comprises about 60 members from across Europe. The players pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members of chamber groups a ...

. Prince consort professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

in London, giving masterclasses at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, he also teaches Master since 2005 at the CODARTS,

Rotterdam Conservatory of Music Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its orig ...

and since 2017 he is Professor at the

Hochschule für Musik Saarbrücken ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right t ...

. Since September 2021, he is appointed as a violin teacher at Paris Conservatoire CNSMdP. In 2004 he was named

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

of the

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (NKO; Dutch, ''Nederlands Kamerorkest'') is a Dutch chamber orchestra based in Amsterdam. The NKO is part of the ''Stichting Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest'' (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation), alon ...

, Amsterdam, a group created in the 1950es by

Szymon Goldberg Szymon Goldberg (1 June 190919 July 1993) was a Polish-born Jewish classical violinist and conductor, latterly an American. Born in Włocławek, Congress Poland, Goldberg played the violin as a child growing up in Warsaw. His first teacher was He ...

, the concertmaster of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

from the times of their conductor

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

. It was more than natural to take the same approach of directing from the concertmaster position and the hundreds of concerts played in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam have been oriented towards the most flexible interaction of all musicians involved. Playing in the hall of the Royal Concertgebouw with this group of motivated musicians became a constant source of inspiration that helps greatly define the (ever moving) platform of ideas on music making. 2006-2011 he was

Musical Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the di ...

of St George Strings, an orchestra based in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

, Serbia. Since 2007 Musical Director of BandArt orchestra with among others performances of operas

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ...

’s Orpheo, and Mozart’s

Idomeneo ' (Italian for '' Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a Frenc ...

, in festivals of

Peralada Peralada () is a village in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home of the Frankish Counts of Peralada who controlled this portion of the Marca Hispanica before becoming part of the lands held by the Count of Barcelona. Figuere ...

, Ludwigsbourg,

Luzern Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

. The latest collaboration with OSCyL featured on the programme the Schubert “Unfinished” and Bruckner 9 symphonies. Nikolitch shares his experience by directing many other orchestras, among them Orquesta Nacional d'España, Orquesta d'opera Madrid, Orchestre National D'Île de France,

, Orchestre de chambre de Geneve, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra,

Tapiola Sinfonietta The Tapiola Sinfonietta (founded 1987) is a city orchestra of Espoo, Finland. The orchestra consists of 41 members and its principal concert venue is Tapiola Hall (with 773 seats) at the Espoo Cultural Centre. At the beginning Jorma Panula, Osmo ...

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 2 September 2005. Richard Tognetti was appointed Lead Violin in 1989 and subsequently appo ...

, Manchester Camerata, Radio Simfonijski orkestar Slovenija, OSCyL etc. He plays violins by Paul Belin fecit anno 2016 and a Petrus Guarnerius Venice offered graciously to use by a generous sponsor, bows by F.X. Tourte and J.P.M. Persoit, having in the past played violins by

Giuseppe Guarneri Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his ...

, Gaspare Lorenzini, Matteo Goffriler and Lorenzo Storioni.

A list of records (non exhaustive)

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. Piano Concertos Nos. 15 & 27.

Martin Helmchen Martin Helmchen (born 1982) is a German pianist. He has played with international orchestras and has recorded discs of many classical composers. Life Helmchen was born in Berlin. He began his piano studies at the age of six, and graduated from th ...

, Gordan Nikolić,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186508 (2013) *

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 wo ...

. Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5. Gordan Nikolić,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186340 (2009) *

. Serenade in D, KV250 "Haffner". Gordan Nikolić ,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186097 (2008) *

. Piano Concertos Nos. 13 & 24. Gordan Nikolić,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186305 (2007) *

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

. Symphony No. 100 "Military" & Sinfonia Concertante & L'isola Disabitata. Gordan Nikolić, Herre-Jan Stegenga, Toon Durville, Margreet Bongers,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186300 (2007) *

. Sinfonia concertante K.364 & Rondo for Violin and Orchestra K.373 & Concertone K.190.

Yakov Kreizberg Yakov Kreizberg (russian: Яков Крейцберг; born Yakov Mayevich Bychkov, 24 October 1959 – 15 March 2011) was a Russian-born American conductor. Early years In the Soviet Union Yakov Bychkov was born in Leningrad into a family ...

, Julia Fischer, Gordan Nikolić, Hans Meyer, Herre-Jan Stegenga,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186098 (2007) *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hu ...

Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. Sometimes described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century, he is now largely overlooked, particularly in English-speaking countries. Life Born in ...

. Various works. Gordan Nikolić,

. PENTATONE PTC 5186056 (2005) *

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 ...

. Symphonies Nos.1-4; Double Concerto; Serenade No.2.

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lon ...

, Timothy Hugh,

. LSO Live Rel. 4 Oct 2005 Recorded 2003-2004 * Gounod Charles symphonies Gordan Nikolić, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra TACET (record label) * Mozart Haffner and Linzner Symphonies, Gordan Nikolic, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra TACET (record label) * Mozart violin concerto no.5, Noa Wildschut, dir Nikolić, Warner Classics (record label) * Martinson Rolf various works

Lisa Larsson Lisa Larsson (born 14 February 1967) is a Swedish classical soprano singer. Career Larsson studied in Basel and since 1993 appeared in the ''Internationales Opernstudio'' of the Zurich Opera House under conductors such as Franz Welser-Möst ...

soprano, Gordan Nikolić, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra * Beethoven violin concerto piano version

Dejan Lazić Dejan Lazić (born in Zagreb, 1977) is a Croatian pianist and composer, and a naturalised Austrian citizen. He has appeared with such orchestras as the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingha ...

, dir Nikolić, Onyx Classics (record label) * Beethoven Triple concerto LSO, Haitink, Vogt, Hugh, Nikolić, LSO LIVE (record label) *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

piano chamber music, Eric le Sage and friends, ALPHA (record label) * Mozart Violin Concertos 1 & 5, KV 207 and

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 ''Ab ...

, Nikolić, TACET (record label) * Mozart Sinfonia Concertante KV364 and g-minor Symphony KV550, Nikolić, Wolfe, TACET (record label) * Mozart Symphonies 39 and Jupiter, KV543 and KV551, Nikolić, TACET (record label)

References

*
Biography at Razumovsky Ensemble

External links

*
Faculty page at the Royal College of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolitch, Gordan Serbian classical violinists Male classical violinists Living people 1968 births London Symphony Orchestra players 21st-century classical violinists