Christian Altenburger Instrument: Violin Country: Germany website

Initially, Christian Altenburger’s career seemed destined for the “splendid isolation” of the major international soloist. At 16, he left his hometown of Vienna to study under Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. Worldwide appearances and solo concerts with many of the most important conductors and orchestras in Europe and the USA soon followed.

Increasingly though, he found just how much music as a means of communication meant to him. The pleasure of sharing music with others, of making music with friends for friends: this experience became the driving force of his musical development. Today, Christian Altenburger is not only an internationally sought-after soloist but also an equally highly regarded and well-known chamber musician, teacher and Festival Director.

Christian Altenburger was surrounded by music from the beginning. His father, a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was his first teacher. Whilst still at school, he studied at the Vienna University of Music and already had completed his diploma there when, on the recommendation of Zubin Mehta, he left to study in New York. Dorothy DeLay proved to be an ideal teacher. Her wide-ranging knowledge - above and beyond the merely technical - impressed him as deeply as her ability to accept and encourage her students in their entirety. This experience is reflected in Christian Altenburger’s approach to teaching today. From 1990 to 2001 he held a professorship at the Hannover University of Music. Since 2001, he has held a professorship at the Vienna University of Music.

 

Marianna Shirinyan. Instrument: Piano Country: Armenia website

Initially, Christian Altenburger’s career seemed destined for the “splendid isolation” of the major international soloist. At 16, he left his hometown of Vienna to study under Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. Worldwide appearances and solo concerts with many of the most important conductors and orchestras in Europe and the USA soon followed.

Increasingly though, he found just how much music as a means of communication meant to him. The pleasure of sharing music with others, of making music with friends for friends: this experience became the driving force of his musical development. Today, Christian Altenburger is not only an internationally sought-after soloist but also an equally highly regarded and well-known chamber musician, teacher and Festival Director.

Christian Altenburger was surrounded by music from the beginning. His father, a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was his first teacher. Whilst still at school, he studied at the Vienna University of Music and already had completed his diploma there when, on the recommendation of Zubin Mehta, he left to study in New York. Dorothy DeLay proved to be an ideal teacher. Her wide-ranging knowledge - above and beyond the merely technical - impressed him as deeply as her ability to accept and encourage her students in their entirety. This experience is reflected in Christian Altenburger’s approach to teaching today. From 1990 to 2001 he held a professorship at the Hannover University of Music. Since 2001, he has held a professorship at the Vienna University of Music.

 

Peter Linneberg Instrument: Kontrabas Country: Denmark

Initially, Christian Altenburger’s career seemed destined for the “splendid isolation” of the major international soloist. At 16, he left his hometown of Vienna to study under Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. Worldwide appearances and solo concerts with many of the most important conductors and orchestras in Europe and the USA soon followed.

Increasingly though, he found just how much music as a means of communication meant to him. The pleasure of sharing music with others, of making music with friends for friends: this experience became the driving force of his musical development. Today, Christian Altenburger is not only an internationally sought-after soloist but also an equally highly regarded and well-known chamber musician, teacher and Festival Director.

Christian Altenburger was surrounded by music from the beginning. His father, a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was his first teacher. Whilst still at school, he studied at the Vienna University of Music and already had completed his diploma there when, on the recommendation of Zubin Mehta, he left to study in New York. Dorothy DeLay proved to be an ideal teacher. Her wide-ranging knowledge - above and beyond the merely technical - impressed him as deeply as her ability to accept and encourage her students in their entirety. This experience is reflected in Christian Altenburger’s approach to teaching today. From 1990 to 2001 he held a professorship at the Hannover University of Music. Since 2001, he has held a professorship at the Vienna University of Music.