Verena Stourzh Violin
Verena Stourzh, born in Vienna, studied with Prof. Alexander Arenkow at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, where she obtained both the state teaching diploma and concert diploma with distinction.
She attended master classes with Dora Schwarzberg, Ernst Kovacic, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Detlef Hahn, Rainer Kussmaul, Erich Höbarth and Ingrid Seifert (baroque violin).
Verena Stourzh was member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, leader of first violins of „Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich“ (1990-1993), since then she is member of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
In Verena’s artistic career chamber music has always played a major role. She has performed with the Wiener Mozart Trio, Soloists of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn-Philharmonic and Soloists of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. As violinist of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt (1998 - 2010) and the TrioVanBeethoven (since 2011) Verena Stourzh is performing intensely in Austria and abroad. Concerts have taken her a.o. to the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt (annual subscription concerts), Lisztfestival Raiding, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Stadtcasino Basel, Louvre Auditorium Paris, Kings Place London, the Cheltenham Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Musikverein Zagreb, Festival EuroArt Prag, International Performing Arts Center Moscow, Kiev Philharmonic, International Center of Performing Arts Beijing, Metropolitan Museum New York, Library of Congress Washington, as well as to Canada, South America, South Africa, Australia and East Asia.
In 2009, the Haydn commemorative year, she went on a worldwide tour to play 157 concerts on all continents. For this reason the Austrian National Bank allocated to her a violin by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona 1714, the "ex Smith-Quersin".
As a soloist, she has appeared with the Tonkünstler - Orchester Niederösterreich, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Brasilia Symphony Orchestra.
Verena Stourzh has released around 45 CDs, including the complete recordings of the piano trios of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the worldwide first complete recording of 429 Scottish and Welsh folksongs arranged by Joseph Haydn (with Lorna Anderson, soprano, and Jamie MacDougall, tenor). These recordings have won international renown.
The cooperation with contemporary composers has always been very important to Verena.
As part of her work with piano trio more than 30 thematic pieces were commissioned to national and international renowned composers like a.o. Lalo Schifrin, William Bolcom, Jacqueline Fontyn, Xiaogang Ye, Yui Kakinuma, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Dieter Schnebel, Màrton Illés, Johanna Doderer, Herbert Lauermann, Norbert Sterk, Julia Purgina und Elisabeth Harnik.
The projects „D2H – Dedicated to Haydn“ and „Bachmann to Music – Writing against War” were recorded on 5 CDs.
In cooperation with the Austrian Broadcast Corporation (ORF) two more CDs were created with portraits of the composers Wolfram Wagner, Tibor Nemeth und Jaan Rääts.
Parallel to her artistic career Verena Stourzh is also active as a teacher.
Since 1993 she is leading a violin class at the Vienna Music School. During one year she also taught at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna.
Furthermore, she has given masterclasses at the Conservatoire Montréal, Gettysburg College, the University of Glasgow, Cork School of Music, the University of Syracuse, Kiev Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Tirana.
Verena Stourzh performs on violins of Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, 1770, and Patrick Robin, 2003.