Philippe Hirschhorn

Philippe Hirschhorn (11 June 1946, Riga – 26 November 1996, Brussels) was a violinist. He won the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1967. A citizen of the Soviet Union, he was born in Riga, Latvia and first studied at Darsin music school in Riga with Waldemar Sturestep, later he studied with Michael Waiman at the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg.

Hirschhorn played concerts all over the world (Europe, America and Japan) with the most prestigious orchestras conducted by, amongst others, Herbert von Karajan, Uri Segal, Eugene Ormandy, Yury Temirkanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gary Bertini, Ronald Zollman. He played together with Roger Woodward, Elisabeth Leonskaya, Martha Argerich, James Tocco, Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, Frederic Meinders, Hans Mannes, Brigitte Engerer etc. The rare recordings that exist of his playing are examples of his technical and musical abilities. He was the teacher of many excellent violinists who dedicated their working life to performing and teaching, among others Philippe Graffin, David Grimal, Cornelia Angerhofer, Janine Jansen, Yoris Jarzynski, Marie-Pierre Vendôme, and many others.