Isabelle Faust

Violin

Artist in Residence Barbican Centre 26/27

Musicians say that when they work with her, they play better themselves. As unrelentingly focused as a laser beam, she exposes the essence of the music and sets standards. One has the urge to follow her as she loses herself in the music and rediscovers herself from within.

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Isabelle Faust

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Biography

Isabelle Faust captivates her audience with her compelling interpretations. She approaches each piece with the utmost respect and sensitivity towards its musical historical context and the historic use of instruments. By combining greatest possible authenticity with a contemporary perspective, she continuously manages to create meaningful encounters with a wide variety of works for a diverse audience.

After winning the renowned Leopold Mozart Competition and the Paganini Competition at a very young age, she soon gave regular performances with the world’s major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonics, Boston Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Les Siècles and the Baroque Orchestra Freiburg.

This led to close and sustained collaborations with conductors like Andris Nelsons, Giovanni Antonini, François-Xavier Roth, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Jakub Hrusa, Klaus Mäkelä, Robin Ticciati oder Sir Simon Rattle.

„Isabelle Faust is a fearless leader in the realms of the violin. On gut strings, she plays the six monstruous solos by J.S. Bach, Györgi Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments”, continues to play Beethoven’s violin concerto again and again with a variety of conductors, plays chamber music. Always the sound of her violin floats with a smile through the music, always she triumphs with ease in the most turbulent and demanding violin turmoil”Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 2023

Isabelle Faust's artistic curiosity encompasses all eras and forms of instrumental partnership. In addition to the great symphonic violin concertos, this includes Schubert's Octet on period instruments, Igor Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with Dominique Horwitz and György Kurtág's "Kafka Fragments" with Anna Prohaska. Isabelle Faust has shown great commitment to contemporary music from an early stage: her most recent world premieres include compositions by Péter Eötvös, Brett Dean, Ondřej Adámek, Rune Glerup and Vito Žuraj. In November 2026, she will give the world premiere of Philippe Manoury’s New Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, together with the SWR Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights of the 2026/27 season include tours with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, both conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, a performance with the Salzburg Marionette Theatre in the production of ‘L’Histoire du Soldat’, the SWR Symphony Orchestra under François-Xavier Roth and the Springhead Constellation (Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with András Schiff and Jean-Guihen Queyras). The programme also includes concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, amongst others.

Her residency at the Barbican Centre in London will feature performances with both the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as well as solo and duo recitals.

In the chamber music sphere, she can once again be heard in a trio with Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras, as well as on a US tour in a duo with Kristian Bezuidenhout. In spring 2027, there will be a preview of the Beethoven anniversary: the complete piano trio cycle with Alexander Melnikov and Jean-Guihen Queyras at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam.

Numerous recordings have been unanimously praised by critics and awarded the Diapason d’or, the Grammophone Award, the Choc de l’année and other prizes. The most recent recordings include György Ligeti’s Violin concerto (with Les Siècles under the baton of François-Xavier Roth), Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto (with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), works for violin and orchestra by Pietro Locatelli (with Il Giardino Armonico) and works for solo violin by Biber, Matteis, Pisendel, Vilsmayr and Guillemain. Isabelle Faust presented further popular recordings among others of the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as violin concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven and Alban Berg under the direction of Claudio Abbado.

Isabelle Faust plays the Stradivarius ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1704) and the Guarneri del Gesù ‘Canary Bird’ (1743), generously on loan from L-Bank Baden-Württemberg and the Karolina Blaberg Foundation.

2026/2027

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.

Contacts: Eleonore Wrobel, Muriel Constantin

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2027 / 2028

You’ll find the current programmes in the IMPRESARIUM of the 27/28 season