Philippe Graffin

Philippe Graffin (born 1964) is a French violinist and recording artist. He was born in Romilly-sur-Seine, France. The French Violinist Philippe Graffin was a student of the late Joseph Gingold and Philippe Hirschhorn and has established a particular reputation for his interpretations of his native repertoire as well for his interest in rare and contemporary works. He rediscovered original settings of classics such as Chausson's Poème and Ravel's Tzigane and has also championed the forgotten violin concertos of G. Fauré and the concerto by English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Philippe has shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians of our time: Yehudi Menuhin, M. Rostropovich, Martha Argerich, and Sergiu Comissiona. He regularly partners with cellists Gary Hoffman and Truls Mork; pianists Pascal Devoyon, Steven Kovacevich, Claire Désert, as well as with the Chilingirian Quartet and Tango Factory among others. A number of composers have written works for him including David Matthews, Yves Prin, Vassili Lobanov and Philippe Hersant. The Lithuanian composer Vytautas Barkauskas dedicated his award-winning violin concerto "Jeux" to Philippe and wrote a double concerto Duo Concertante for him and violinist Nobuko Imai and Russian composer, Rodion Shchedrin wrote a concerto for violin, trumpet and string orchestra, dedicated to Philippe. He has performed with many of Europe's finest orchestras such as The Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic and with chamber orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Nordica and Orchestra di Padova et del Veneto. He works often in Lithuania where he played under the baton of Mstislaw Rostropovich in 2001. He tours regularly to South Africa and has played with the orchestras of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. He has performed in prestigious venues such as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Palazetto Bru-Zane in Venice and for series such as France's Concerts du Poche and Rive Gauche Musique and at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. He was the founder of the chamber music festival, Consonances de Saint-Nazaire, and its artistic director throughout its twenty-five year history. He has also been artistic director of several events at London's Wigmore Hall. Following the success of his festival at Flagey in Brussels with Gerard Depardieu, recorded and documented by Belgian Television RTBF, Graffin curates 'Ysaÿe's Knokke' in September 2017, a festival in Knokke le Zout, where the great Belgian violinist Ysaÿe had his summer residence. Philippe Graffin plays a Domenico Busano violin, made in Venice, 1730. In demand as a teacher Philippe Graffin gives masterclasses around the world and is currently professor at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and guest professor at the Brussels Conservatoire Royal.