Biography

Franziska Hölscher’s highly praised performances stand out for their “force of expression, dazzling interpretive power and enchanting tone” (ST April 26, 2016).

Born in Heidelberg, Franziska Hoelscher began playing the violin at the age of five. Her teachers were Ulf Hoelscher in Karlsruhe and Thomas Brandis in Lübeck. She completed her studies in violin with Nora Chastain in Berlin in 2013.

In 1999 Franziska Hoelscher gained international attention by winning First Prize at the International Radio Competition in Prague when only 17. Only two years later, she attracted attention when making her debut alongside Martha Argerich. Franziska Hoelscher regularly appears at all the important German music festivals and is one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation.

She has been awarded scholarships from the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), the Villa Musica Foundation Rhineland-Palatinate and from the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat).

Deeply committed to chamber music, Ms. Hoelscher collaborates with chamber music partners such as Mojca Erdmann, Andreas Ottensamer, Martha Argerich, Martin Helmchen, Severin von Eckardstein, Ivry Gitlis, Antje Weithaas, Nils Mönkemeyer, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Maximilian Hornung, Christian Poltéra and Julian Steckel. She shared an intensive artistic collaboration with the writer Roger Willemsen. She is currently collaborating on a project with actress Maria Schrader. Franziska Hoelscher has appeared as a chamber musician and soloist at many music festivals, among them the Bachwoche Ansbach, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Schleswig-Holstein-Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Heidelberger Frühling Festival. Ms. Hoelscher also regularly performs as a chamber musician and soloist at important venues such as the Cologne and Berlin Philharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Stuttgart’s Liederhalle, Zurich’s Tonhalle, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Vienna Musikverein and at Prague’s Rudolfinum. Concert tours have taken her throughout Europe, Asia, and to the US.

Numerous recordings for radio and television in Germany and Europe testify to her artistry as a soloist and chamber musician. Franziska Hoelscher also performed in the “Musikdebüt” TV series at Stuttgart-based broadcaster SWR and in the “Rhapsody in School” project initiated by Lars Vogt.

In the forthcoming season, she will perform at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam, the Düsseldorf Tonhalle and at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. She is also due to return for concert engagements at the Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Eindhoven, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Together with pianist Benjamin Moser, she will go on tour in Germany and Switzerland performing Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21, accompanied by the Gémeaux Quartet, winners of the ARD Music Competition. She will also undertake an extensive European tour with Liza Ferschtman, Nils Mönkemeyer, Danjulo Ishizaka and Severin von Eckardstein. Ms. Hoelscher performs recitals alongside fellow chamber music partners Andreas Ottensamer, clarinet, Marie-Luise Neunecker, horn, Markus Groh and Lauma Skride, piano, as well as violists Nils Mönkemeyer and Isabelle van Keulen, and cellist Maximilian Hornung.

Last year, she and her longtime duo partner Severin von Eckardstein were music directors of the “Klangbrücken” chamber recital series at the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Franziska Hölscher plays a modern violin by Parisian violin maker Stephan von Baehr (2011).

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