Veit Hertenstein
One of the most exciting musicians on his instrument to emerge in years, German violist Veit Hertenstein plays with “admirable precision, dedication and strong musical expression“ (Augsburger Allgemeine 2013) as well as “maturity, technique, thoughtful musicianship, and a tone of dark honey” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer 2013).

Mr. Hertenstein has been invited to the Marlboro Music Festival, the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy, the Viola Space Festival Tokyo, Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and the Verbier Festival, where he was awarded the “Henri Louis de la Grange” viola prize. He has also been several times invited to the La Folle Journée Festival in Nantes and Tokyo. As a chamber Musician he collaborated with Trio Wanderer, Modigliani and Ysaye Quartets, Brigitte Engerer, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg String Quartet) and with Midori.

In the United States Mr. Hertenstein performed in concert halls such as The Merkin Hall, New York, The Kenendy Center in Washington D.C. after winning First prize as well as eight performance prizes in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions 2011 in New York City. Mr. Hertenstein has won several prestigious competitions. In 2009 he was the first violist to win the New Talent Competition of the European Broadcasting Union in Slovakia founded by Yehudi Menuhin, which was followed by world-wide radio broadcasts. He was a prize-winner of the first Tokyo International Viola Competition 2009. In 2007 he was the first violist to win First Prize at the Orpheus Competition in Zurich, Switzerland. Pro Helvetia commissioned a Viola Concerto by Swiss composer Nicolas Bolens which was premiered in Geneva 2014.

Born in Augsburg, Germany, Mr. Hertenstein began studying the violin and piano at the age of 5 and switched to the viola when he was 15. In 2009 he graduated with distinction from the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, where he worked with violist Nobuko Imai. He also has been artistically influenced by György Kurtag, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Yuri Bashmet and Kim Kashkashian.

In 2011 Mr. Hertenstein became the principal violist of the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. In April 2016 30 years old he became a professor for viola at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany.