Philippe Quint, Violin
One of the most versatile and imaginative artists on the concert stage today, multiple Grammy Award-nominated American violinist Philippe Quint is internationally recognized for his unique approach to classical core repertoire, championing new music, rediscovering neglected works and creating a new format of “docu-concert” experience: multimedia journeys about Astor Piazzolla and Charlie Chaplin.
“Truly phenomenal” is how BBC Music Magazine recently described him, also adding that “Quint’s tonal opulence, generously inflected with subtle portamentos, sounds like a throwback to the glory days of Fritz Kreisler.”
Philippe Quint is constantly in demand and regularly appears with major orchestras and conductors worldwide at venues ranging from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig to Carnegie Hall in New York, while making frequent guest appearances at the most prestigious festivals, including Verbier, Aspen, Colmar, Hollywood Bowl and Dresden Festspiele.
Quint’s award-winning 17 commercial discography includes the “Chaplin’s Smile” CD (Warner Classics) featuring 13 original arrangements of songs by Charlie Chaplin. The disc received worldwide acclaim, multiple Editor’s Choices from all major radio stations and such publications as Forbes, Gramophone, Limelight, Strad, and Strings. The album also inspired him to create and produce his first docu-concert experience, a multimedia journey with orchestra and in recital: Philippe Quint in Charlie Chaplin’s Smile, which premiered worldwide to critical acclaim. His second docu-concert, Astor Piazzolla @100: Between Angels and Demons, has also received rave reviews and has been seen throughout the United States in both recital and quintet versions, featuring a newly commissioned ballet with members of the Joffrey Ballet.
His AvantiClassics label recordings include Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concertos paired with Beethoven’s Romances with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, led by Carlos Miguel Prieto; original arrangements of Bach’s works by composer/pianist Matt Herskowitz titled “Bach XXI;” the “Opera Breve” CD with pianist Lily Maisky; Glazunov and Khachaturian violin concertos with Bochumer Sinfonike and Steven Sloane; and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Sofia Philharmonic led by conductor Martin Panteleev, paired with Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 35.
Other critically acclaimed albums are on the Naxos label and include the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices, Korngold’s Violin Concerto (Prieto/Mineria), William Schuman’s Violin Concerto, Ned Rorem’s Violin Concerto, Miklos Rozsa’s Complete Works for Violin and Piano with pianist William Wolfram, Bernstein’s Serenade (Alsop/Bournemouth), and a unique compilation of works by Paganini arranged by Fritz Kreisler, which BBC Music Magazine called “truly phenomenal.”
Quint has won worldwide acclaim playing with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. His appearances in recent seasons have taken him to the London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Weimar Staatskapelle, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, China National Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Komische Oper Orchestra, and Leipzig’s MDR. He has performed under the batons of such renowned conductors as the late Kurt Masur, Edo De Waart, Andrew Litton, Tugan Sokhiev, Ludovic Morlot, James Gaffigan, Carl St. Clair, Michael Stern, Vladimir Spivakov, Cristian Macelaru, Kristian Jarvi, Krzysztof Urbanski, Jorge Mester, Jahja Ling, Krzysztof Urbanski, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Tugan Sokhiev, Tito Munoz, Steven Sloane and Bramwell Tovey.
Winner of the “Ambassador of Arts” presented by Brownstone and Gateway Organizations at the United Nations, Quint is the first classical artist to star in the lead role of a major independent film: Downtown Express co-starring Nellie McKay, produced by Michael Hausmann (Gangs of New York, Brokeback Mountain, Amadeus) and directed by David Grubin. This 2012 film premiered in New York and Los Angeles as well as at a number of national and international film festivals including Woodstock, New York, Houston (Opening Night), Mons (Belguim), Cuba, Vermont, and Florida.
An active chamber musician, Quint has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Verbier, Luzern, Caramoor, Colmar, Ravinia, Aspen, Rome, Moritzburg, La Jolla, Lincoln Center and Chautauqua festivals, in addition to recitals and chamber performances at the Kravis Center, UC Davis Presents, National Gallery in Washington, and San Francisco Performances with Composer/Pianist Lera Auerbach.
Quint’s live performances and interviews have been broadcast on television by CBS, CNN, ABC, BBC World News, NBC, Reuters, and Bloomberg TV, as well as by radio stations nationwide including NPR, WNYC and WQXR. His recordings have received multiple “Editor’s Choice” selections in Gramophone, The Strad, Strings, and the Daily Telegraph. His remarkable degree of lyricism, poetry and impeccable virtuosity has gripped the eyes and ears of audiences in Asia, Australia, Latin America, Africa, Europe and the U.S. with what The Times (London) describes as his “bravura technique, and unflagging energy.”
Making his home in New York since 1991, Quint studied at the Special Music School for the Gifted with the famed violinist Andrei Korsakov, making his orchestral debut at the age of nine. He earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. His distinguished pedagogues and mentors included Dorothy Delay, Cho-Liang Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, and Felix Galimir.
Philippe Quint plays the magnificent 1708 “Ruby” Antonio Stradivari violin on loan to him through the generous efforts of The Stradivari Society®.