Philippe Graffin

Philippe Graffin’s individual style of playing and outstanding achievements have already placed him among the finest of French violinists.

He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire with a first prize at sixteen, and later studied with Prof Josef Gingold in Bloomington, Indiana and with and Philipp Hirschhorn.

In 1987 he was Laureate of the Fritz Kreisler Competition in Austria since when Mr Graffin’s international career has seen him appear as soloist with major orchestras in the UK and Europe and at many international festivals and concert halls including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Berlin Konzerthaus.

Philippe Graffin is regularly invited to appear at major chamber music festivals across Europe and the United States and to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has appeared in the BBC Proms Chamber Music season and been invited to be Artistic Director of several chamber music projects at London’s Wigmore Hall.

A number of composers have written for him. Lithuanian composer Vytautas Barkauskas received the 2004 Lithuanian National Prize for Art for his violin concerto “Jeux”, which he dedicated to Philippe Graffin. David Matthews wrote his 2nd violin concerto for him and Yves Prin, Vassili Lobanov and Philippe Hersant have written solo pieces for him as well. Philippe Graffin has also performed Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto Cantabile under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich and in Moscow to mark the composer’s 70th birthday.  Shchedrin has written a concerto for violin and trumpet for Philippe Graffin, entitled Concerto parlando.

Philippe Graffin’s recordings include the Elgar Concerto in its original version, Ysaÿe solo violin sonatas, Chausson’s complete chamber music, Saint-Saëns violin concertos and complete violin and piano music, a disc of Rare French Works including the Fauré Concerto, sonatas by de Breville and Canteloube.