Arabella Steinbacher
German violinist Arabella Steinbacher has firmly established herself as one of today's leading violinists on the international concert scene, performing with the world's major orchestras. The New York Times reports that she plays with “Balanced lyricism and fire—among her assets are a finely polished technique and a beautifully varied palette of timbres.” After her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Christoph von Dohnányi, The Chicago Tribune reported, “From her magical entry over hushed orchestral strings to the biting swagger she brought to the dancing finale, it was evident that her feeling for this music runs as deep as her technical command. The central Adagio came off especially beautifully, Steinbacher conveying its brooding melancholy with a rich vibrato, impeccable intonation and a remarkable breadth of phrasing.”
Steinbacher’s career was launched in 2004 with an extraordinary and unexpected debut in Paris, when she stepped in on short notice for an ailing colleague and performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Sir Neville Marriner. Her diverse and deep repertoire includes more than 30 concertos for violin. In addition to all of the major concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods, she also performs those of Barber, Bartók, Berg, Glazunov, Khatchaturian, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Hindemith, Hartmann and Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium. Among Steinbacher's numerous recording honors are 2 ECHO-Klassik Awards (considered to be the German equivalent of the Grammy), “Les Chocs du Mois” from Le Monde de la Musique and two German Record Critics Awards, as well as the prestigious Editors Choice Award from Grammophone magazine.
Steinbacher is recording exclusively for PentaTone Classics. Her first CD on that label, released in autumn 2009, included Dvorák's Violin Concerto in A Minor and Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, as well as Dvorák's Romance in F Minor, with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin led by Marek Janowski. Steinbacher recorded her second PentaTone release, which features Bartók's First and Second Violin Concertos, in July 2009. The CD was released in October 2010. In fall 2012 she released her latest CD with Prokofiev concertos no. 1 and 2 (PentaTone).
Steinbacher is appearing with the leading international orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonie and the Cleveland Orchestra. She has worked with conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski, Zubin Mehta, Marek Janowski, Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, among others.
Highlights of her 2012-13 season include performances with the San Francisco, Boston, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Seattle Symphonies, Philharmonia Orchestra and Münchner Philharmoniker. Furthermore, Steinbacher will perform with Orchestra National de France, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Symphony, and will have her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and with the New York Philharmonic under Joshua Weilerstein.
Recent seasons included performances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Orchestre et Opera National de Montpellier, Orchestre de Paris, and returns to the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as her Cleveland Orchestra debut.
In April 2011, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and her subscription debut with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra, as well as her debut at Maggio Musicale in Florence under Zubin Mehta and her debut with the Israel Philharmonic. In August 2009, Steinbacher made her much-anticipated debut at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra led by Jonathan Nott.
Born in Munich in 1981 to a German father and a Japanese mother, Steinbacher began studying the violin at the age of three. Her mother is a professionally trained singer who came to Germany from Japan to study music and her father was the first Solorepetitor in the Bayerische Staatsoper, from 1960 to 1972. At nine, she became the youngest violin student of Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Academy of Music. She received further musical inspiration and guidance from Ivry Gitlis. In 2001, Steinbacher won the sponsorship prize of the Free State of Bavaria and in the same year she was awarded a scholarship by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
Steinbacher currently plays the “Booth” Stradivari (1716) generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation. She lives in her hometown of Munich.
Steinbacher’s career was launched in 2004 with an extraordinary and unexpected debut in Paris, when she stepped in on short notice for an ailing colleague and performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Sir Neville Marriner. Her diverse and deep repertoire includes more than 30 concertos for violin. In addition to all of the major concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods, she also performs those of Barber, Bartók, Berg, Glazunov, Khatchaturian, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Hindemith, Hartmann and Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium. Among Steinbacher's numerous recording honors are 2 ECHO-Klassik Awards (considered to be the German equivalent of the Grammy), “Les Chocs du Mois” from Le Monde de la Musique and two German Record Critics Awards, as well as the prestigious Editors Choice Award from Grammophone magazine.
Steinbacher is recording exclusively for PentaTone Classics. Her first CD on that label, released in autumn 2009, included Dvorák's Violin Concerto in A Minor and Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, as well as Dvorák's Romance in F Minor, with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin led by Marek Janowski. Steinbacher recorded her second PentaTone release, which features Bartók's First and Second Violin Concertos, in July 2009. The CD was released in October 2010. In fall 2012 she released her latest CD with Prokofiev concertos no. 1 and 2 (PentaTone).
Steinbacher is appearing with the leading international orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonie and the Cleveland Orchestra. She has worked with conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski, Zubin Mehta, Marek Janowski, Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, among others.
Highlights of her 2012-13 season include performances with the San Francisco, Boston, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Seattle Symphonies, Philharmonia Orchestra and Münchner Philharmoniker. Furthermore, Steinbacher will perform with Orchestra National de France, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Symphony, and will have her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and with the New York Philharmonic under Joshua Weilerstein.
Recent seasons included performances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Orchestre et Opera National de Montpellier, Orchestre de Paris, and returns to the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as her Cleveland Orchestra debut.
In April 2011, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and her subscription debut with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra, as well as her debut at Maggio Musicale in Florence under Zubin Mehta and her debut with the Israel Philharmonic. In August 2009, Steinbacher made her much-anticipated debut at the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra led by Jonathan Nott.
Born in Munich in 1981 to a German father and a Japanese mother, Steinbacher began studying the violin at the age of three. Her mother is a professionally trained singer who came to Germany from Japan to study music and her father was the first Solorepetitor in the Bayerische Staatsoper, from 1960 to 1972. At nine, she became the youngest violin student of Ana Chumachenko at the Munich Academy of Music. She received further musical inspiration and guidance from Ivry Gitlis. In 2001, Steinbacher won the sponsorship prize of the Free State of Bavaria and in the same year she was awarded a scholarship by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
Steinbacher currently plays the “Booth” Stradivari (1716) generously provided by the Nippon Music Foundation. She lives in her hometown of Munich.