Recognized as one of the most versatile
violinists performing today, American-born
Ida Bieler has set a standard, in the course of
her unusual career, as a musician of extraordinary
scope. Following an unconventional
course, her experience and repertoire span
all facets of solo and ensemble performance,
bringing her acclaim from critics and public
alike for her uniquely communicative interpretations.
Launched into recognition by
winning international competitions on three
continents, she has since performed regularly
as soloist and chamber-player at major music
capitals and festivals throughout the world.
Recording for radio and television worldwide,
she has toured and performed with leading
international orchestras.
Ida Bieler's artistic focus and repertoire, staggering in extent, stretches from the Baroque to contemporary composition. Her performances and recordings of complete work cycles, from Bach's Solo Sonatas and Partitas to the complete sonatas of Bartók, Corigliano and Penderecki, have received acclaim usually reserved for the "specialist" in each of several styles. Working closely with the composers, she has premiered works by Aribert Reimann, Volker David Kirchner, Moritz Eggert; and with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, under the direction of the composer, she played the first performance in Mexico of Krzysztof Penderecki's Metamorphosen – Concerto per violino ed
Ida Bieler's CD catalogue boasts an
exceptionally wide and stylistically varied
range of solo and chamber music repertoire.
Awards have included the Cannes Classical
Award, Echo Klassik Preis, Fono Forum Stern
des Monats, Repertoire "10" and the Strad's
Chamber Music Selection of the Month.
As a chamber musician, Ms Bieler was a
member of Germany's legendary Melos String
Quartet from 1993 until their retirement
from the concert stage in 2005. She has
performed and recorded as a member of the
Ensemble Villa Musica and since 2001 has
been violinist of the highly acclaimed Xyrion
Piano Trio.
One of the first women to win a concertmaster
position in a major European
orchestra, Ida Bieler served from 1983-1988
as concertmaster of the Symphony and
Opera Orchestra of Cologne; the Gürzenich
Orchester. She left this position to accept
a full professorship at the Hochschule für
Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. In
1993, she received the Professorship and
prestigious chair previously held by Sandor
Vegh, leading the violin masterclass at the
Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. Ms
Bieler was Visiting Professor for Violin and
Chamber Music at the Guildhall School of
Music and Drama London from 2005 to 2007,
and is currently Guest Professor, leading a
masterclass at the Universität für Musik und
Darstellende Kunst in Graz, Austria.
One of the most successful teachers in
Europe today, her support of young musicians
has included initiating and serving as
artistic director of the Rheinische Streicherakademie
of NRW, the Streicherakademie
Ochsenhausen in Baden-Württemberg, and
artistic advisor of the Yehudi Menuhin Live
Music Now Rhein-Ruhr e.V. The Vivaldi Project
Düsseldorf, a teachers' training program
aimed at educating underprivileged children,
has been awarded the coveted Ideen für die
Bildungsrepublik prize of Germany 2011.
Ida Bieler received her early musical
education at the North Carolina School of the
Arts studying with Ruggiero Ricci and Marc
Gottlieb. She continued her studies at the
Juilliard School in New York, graduating as a
student of Oscar Shumsky and Felix Galimir.
Gaining important artistic impulses from her
work with Nathan Milstein in London and
Zurich, she ultimately earned the Konzertexamen
degree as a student of Professor Max
Rostal at Cologne's Hochschule für Musik,
Germany.
Ms Bieler plays a violin from Thomas Balestrieri Cremonensis, Fecit Mantuae. Anno 1753. www.idabieler.com