CBA - Philippe Graffin Biography

Biography

^{© Benjamin Ealovega}

Philippe Graffin's individual style of playing and outstanding achievements have already placed him among the finest of French violinists. A student of the late Joseph Gingold and Philipp Hirschhorn, Graffin's interpretations of his native repertoire compelled Gramophone magazine to proclaim "his understanding of the idiom is second to none," while his charismatic and imaginative performances of the mainstream and contemporary repertoire have been praised throughout the world by audiences and reviewers alike.

Philippe's ever-questing mind led him to rediscover original settings of classics such as Chausson's Poème and Ravel's Tzigane. He has also brought back to life the forgotten violin concertos of G. Fauré, Saint-Saëns and the English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, as well as championing rare sonatas such as the Bruno Walter, thereby expanding the repertoire.

Philippe has shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians of our time: Lord Menuhin, M. Rostropovich, Martha Argerich, S. Commisiona, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Additionally he regularly partners the cellists Gary Hoffman, Truls Mork, pianists Pascal Devoyon, Stephen Kovacevich, Claire Désert and the Chilingirian Quartet to name but a few.

Philippe Graffin is the founder and artistic director of "Consonances," the international chamber music festival of St Nazaire, France and is invited regularly to appear at the major chamber music festivals across Europe and the United States. He has also appeared in the BBC Proms Chamber Music series and been invited to be Artistic Director of several chamber music projects at London's Wigmore Hall.

As concerto soloist, he has performed all over Europe with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Hague's Residentie Orkest, Gothenburg Symphony, Czech Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Contemporary music forms an essential part of Philippe's interests. A number of composers have written for him: most recently the Lithuanian composer Vytautas Barkauskas has received the 2004 Lithuanian National Prize for Art for his violin concerto "Jeux", which he dedicated to Philippe. Graffin also premiered Barkauskas's Duo Concertante for violin and viola with Nobuko Imai at the Vilnius Festival and gave the first performances in France and Russia of Rodion Shchedrin's new work for violin, trumpet and orchestra, Concerto Parlando. David Matthews wrote his 2nd violin concerto for Philippe and Yves Prin, Vassili Lobanov and Philippe Hersant have written solo pieces for him.

Philippe has made numerous landmark recordings for Hyperion that have won many awards, including the complete Chausson chamber music, the three Saint-Saëns violin concertos and a wonderful collection of rare French works for violin and orchestra. Recent releases for Avie Records include the concertos of Dvorak and Coleridge-Taylor and a recital CD of Debussy, Enesco & Ravel. In addition to his recordings last year for Avie of Elgar's Violin Concerto and Chausson's Poème in original manuscript versions and for ASV Gold of Miklos Rosza's Sinfonia Concertante, this year has seen the release of a 2-CD set of Mozart's Duos for Violin and Viola and Sinfonia Concertante with Nobuko Imai.

Highlights of the 2006/7 season included tours to Korea and Japan, a performance of Miklos Rosza's Sinfonia Concertante with Raphael Wallfisch and the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and a special 150th anniversary performance of the Elgar Violin Concerto with Vernon Handley and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Philippe continues to champion the Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto with a performance in February 2007 with The Philharmonia Orchestra in London to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the UK and in October 2007 with the Orchestre National d'Ile de France. 2007/8 also includes the UK première of Rodion Shchedrin's Concerto Parlando with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a concert in the Wigmore Hall's Grieg centenary celebrations and tours to Germany, Holland, France and Finland.

Philippe has been appointed Artist in Residence at the University of New York at Stony Brook from the season 2007/8.

Philippe Graffin plays a Domenico Busano violin, made in Venice, 1730

Caroline Baird Artists is a full member of the International Artist Managers' Association