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Keith Gates: Music

Ida Bieler

Ida Bieler played in the orchestra in the premiere of Migle and the Bugs
Ida Bieler

Recognized as one of the most versatile and inspired violinists performing today, American-born Ida Bieler has been acclaimed by critics and public alike for her uniquely personal, committed and communicative musicianship. Launched into recognition by winning Gold and Silver medals at the "International Concours de Violin Dr. Luis Sigall" Vina del Mar, "Concorso Vittorio Gui" Florence, Concert Artists Guild, New York and the "Concorso Valentino Bucchi" Rome; she has been a regular performer in major music capitals throughout the world. Ida Bieler has recorded for radio and television on five continents and appeared with leading international orchestras including the Münchner Kammerorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Polish National Chamber Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico premiering Krzysztof Penderecki's Metamorphosen - Concerto per violino ed orchestra no. 2 under the direction of the composer.

A frequent guest artist in major music festivals, she has performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Schubertiade, Marlboro Music Festival, Casals Festival Puerto Rico, Paris Festival Châtelet and Tivoli Festival, collaborating with artists such as Gerhard Oppitz, Leonard Hokanson, Konrad Elser, Mischa Maisky, Boris Pergamenschikow, Gérard Caussé, Radovan Vlatkovic, as well as members of the Guarneri and Amadeus Quartets.

Ida Bieler was a member of Germany's legendary Melos Quartet from 1993 to 2005 and in 2001 co-founded the much acclaimed Xyrion Piano Trio with pianist Nina Tichman and cellist Maria Kliegel.

Ida Bieler's artistic focus has included performances and recordings of complete work cycles including Sonatas and Partitas of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorák, Bartók, Schumann, Hindemith and Penderecki. Her CD catalogue for Harmonia mundi france, Dabringhaus and Grimm, Naxos and Genuin boasts an exceptionally wide and stylistically varied range of solo and chamber music repertoire. Awards have included the Cannes Classical Award, Echo Klassik Preis, Fono Forum "Stern des Monats", the Strad's "Chamber Music Selection of the Month", Repertoire 10.

Ms Bieler was one of the first women to receive the appointment of concertmaster in a major orchestra in Europe, serving in that position from 1983-1988 in Cologne's Gürzenich Orchester. She retired from this position receiving a full professorship at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt. In 1993 she was appointed the prestigious chair previously held by Sandor Vegh, leading the master class for violin and chamber music at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. Ida Bieler was Visiting Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama London from 2005 to 2007 and currently leads a masterclass at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Graz, Austria, succeeding Thomas Zehetmair.

She has led international masterclasses at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Hindemith Institute Blonay/Switzerland, the Stiftung Villa Musica Rheinlandpfalz, Landesmusikakademie Schloss Ochsenhausen, Landesmusikakademie North-Rhine-Westphalia, the Oberstdorfer Musiksommer and at major universities in the USA, Canada, Hongkong, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Her support of young musicians has included initiating and serving as artistic director of the Rheinische Streicherakademie and the artistic advisorship of the "Yehudi Menuhin Stiftung Live Music Now NRW". Ms Bieler has been a member of prestigious juries at international competitions including, "Franz Schubert and Modern Music" Graz, the Tromp International Competition Eindhoven, the Spohr Competition Weimar, the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Wettbewerb des Kulturkreises des BDI, Stiftung Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz, Grand Prix d'Eurovision and the "Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben" Hamburg.

Ida Bieler received her high school education at the North Carolina School of the Arts studying with Ruggiero Ricci and Marc Gottlieb. She continued her studies, graduating from the Juilliard School New York, as a student of Oscar Shumsky and Felix Galimir. Gaining important artistic impulses from her work with Nathan Milstein in London, she ultimately earned the "Konzertexamen" degree studying with Max Rostal at Cologne's Hochschule für Musik, Germany.

Ida Bieler plays a violin from Tomaso Balestrieri, Mantova 1753.