Birgit Erz Violine

For Birgit Erz, music has always meant making music together, communication and creative exchange with others. Born in Heilbronn, she received her first violin lessons there at the municipal music school with George Moradian. Her musical education was also significantly influenced by Conrad von der Goltz, Petru Munteanu, Valery Gradow, Roman Nodel and Antje Weithaas.

She received valuable artistic impulses at masterclasses with Roman Totenberg, Ruggiero Ricci, Rainer Kussmaul, Tibor Varga and Ida Haendel, among others. Birgit Erz devoted herself intensively to chamber music from an early age. She played in a wide variety of ensembles and was a member of a permanent horn trio, a string quartet and a recorder trio for several years. With these ensembles – as well as a soloist and piano accompanist – she won numerous prizes at ‘Jugend musiziert’.

At the same time, Birgit Erz also performed as a soloist with various orchestras at an early age and developed a broad repertoire that includes works from a wide range of eras. She developed a lasting enthusiasm for contemporary music when she rehearsed a work by the composer Kazimierz Serocki at the age of ten.

A few years later, her teacher Valery Gradow recommended that she also study the literature and art of the respective era when working on contemporary works. This holistic approach further fuelled her fascination with new music. In 2002, she took part as a violinist in the international ‘Premio Valentino Bucchi di Roma’ competition for 20th century music and was awarded 2nd prize. She also received a special prize for the best interpretation at the Mendelssohn Competition for Composition in Berlin.