Portrait
- (
June 2009 - please, do not use
outdated versions)Rachel Kolly d'Alba, born 1981 in Lausanne (Switzerland), received her first violin and piano lesson at the age of five. Since her debut as a soloist at the age of twelve, she appeared with famous orchestras as the Berne Symphony Orchestra, the OSUL from Lausanne, the Bern Chamber Orchestra, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the national symphony Orchestra of Lituenia, the Bienne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchester Gesellschaft Zürich, the Sinfonietta Lausanne, the Arcademia Symphonica Germany or the Orchestre de chambre Fribourgeois and has worked with conductors such as Dmitri Kitajenko, Laurent Gendre, Pascal Rophé, Kaspar Zehnder, Jonathan Harrisson, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Urs Peter Schneider, Zolt Nagy, Hervé Klopfenstein or Marc Kissoczy.
Considered as one of the most talentend swiss violinist, the sought-after artist performs all over Europe. As a soloist she is invited to play at numerous renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad (Switzerland), Festival de Divonne (France) or Internazionale Festival di Musica in Este (Italy), Festival de musique contemporaine d’Erevan (Armenia), Festival « Schleswig Holstein » (Germany), Festival de Poitiers (France), « Encuentros » und « mozarteum » at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (Argentina), « Sigall » (Chile), International festival of Flanders (Belgium) or Murten classics (Switzerland).
She studied at the Conservatory in Lausanne where she received, with 15 years old, the diploma for teaching, for the violin and for the chamber music. 1998 she went on with her studies at the University for Music and Drama in Berne in the class of the renowned Slovenian violinist and teacher Igor Ozim, where she received her diploma as a soloist in 2003. She continued her studies with Jean-Jacques Kantorow in Paris and in addition to her violin studies, she studied orchestration with Jean Balissat in Lausanne, composition with Michael Jarrell in Geneva and contemporary chamber music with Bruno Canino.
She takes also master classes with Maestro Franco Gulli (Bloomington), with Thomas Kakuska (Alban Berg Quartet), with Thomas Brandis (Berlin), György Pauk (London) and Ivry Gitlis (Paris).
The young and passionate violinist is a
first prize winner at several international competitions. Already
1994 she won the first prize at the Jeunesses Musicales
Competition in Zurich, followed by first prizes at the
Music Competition Moudon - with distinction -
(1998), the Paderewski Prize (1998). 2000 she reached the finals at
the Councours Eurovision in Lugano, or the first
Prize winner at the Kiefer-Hablitzel-Wettbewerb (2001) or the
Fridl-Wald-Wettberwerb Switzerland (2002). 2005 Rachel Kolly d'Alba
won the first prize and the prize of the audience at the
international competition Julio Cardona in
Covilha, Portugal.
Rachel Kolly d'Alba recorded two CD, besides radio and television
broadcasts for DRS, Radio Espace 2, as in Austria, Germany, France,
Slovenia and Armenia. The 3rd and 4th recording are coming out very
soon. (Ysaÿe: the 6 violin sonatas, and by Saint-Saëns, the pieces
for violin and Orchestra)
Artists like Alfred Brendel, Hansheinz Schneeberger or
Thomas Demenga appreciated the collaboration with Rachel
Kolly d'Alba. The press praised her engagement without compromises,
her volcanic temperament, her sensitivity and the deep insight of
her interpretations.
Highlights of the 2008/09 season include performances of the
Mendelssohn concerti, Glazounow, Bruch, Berg, Paganini « la
campanella », Saint-Saëns Nr 3, Schubert Rondo, Bach and
Vivaldi concerti.
Rachel is also the artistic director of the « Riviera
Festival » based in Montreux, each year in April and the
concert serie « Riviera-Concerts ».
Rachel plays an italian violin from 1730.
5 years old