Philippe Hirschhorn

Who was Philippe Hirschhorn?

Philippe Hirschhorn was one of the most gifted violinists ever. He won the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1967. Born in Riga, Latvia, he first studied at Darsin music school in Riga with Prof. Waldemar Sturestep, later he studied with prof Michael Waiman at the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg. He played concerts all over the world with the most prestigious orchestras conducted by amongst others Herbert von Karajan, Uri Segal, Eugene Ormandy, Yury Temirkanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gary Bertini, Ronald Zollman. He played together with Elisabeth Leonskaya, Martha Argerich, James Tocco, Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, Frederic Meinders, Hans Mannes, Brigitte Engerer etc. The rare recordings that exist of him playing are examples of his technical and musical abilities. He was the teacher of many excellent violinists who dedicated their working life to performing and teaching, among others Philippe Graffin, David Grimal, Cornelia Angerhofer, Evert Sillem, Janine Jansen, Yoris Jarzynski, Marie-Pierre Vendôme and many others.