Patricia Kopatchinskaja

The violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja was born in 1977 in Chișinău, Moldova, to musician parents. After her family emigrated to Vienna in 1989, she began her studies there at the age of 16, at the University of Music and Performing Arts, and later completed them with Igor Ozim in Bern. She came to international attention in 2002 when she won the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award and appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic at Lucerne Festival. Since then, she has worked with orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Since 2024 she has served as Artistic Partner of the SWR Symphony Orchestra; during the 2025-26 season, the London Symphony Orchestra is presenting her in its “Artist Portrait” series. She debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 2025 and with the Cleveland Orchestra in March 2026. Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who was featured as Lucerne Festival’s “artiste étoile” in 2017, has made a name for herself through her unconventional, often radical interpretations. She seeks to probe the music’s core and its relevance for today, giving priority to contemporary works by composers such as Francisco Coll, Luca Francesconi, Michael Hersch, Márton Illés, György Kurtág, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Aureliano Cattaneo. She also composes and publishes her own music under the name PatKop. A gifted storyteller, she creates staged concert projects such as Dies irae, Bye-Bye Beethoven, Les Adieux, and, most recently, The Peace Project. For her more than 30 recordings, she has received numerous distinctions, including the International Classical Music Award, the Prix Caecilia, and Gramophone magazine’s Recording of the Year Award. Her album Death and the Maiden, featuring works from Dowland to Kurtág, won a Grammy Award in 2018. Her most recent release, which appeared in 2025, is the album Exil with Camerata Berlin, featuring works by Schnittke, Panufnik, Schubert, Ysaÿe, and Wyschnegradsky.

Lucerne Festival debut on 7 September 2002 with the Vienna Philharmonic under Mariss Jansons in the Sibelius Concerto.

March 2026