“With Maurice Ravel’s ‘Tzigane’ that followed, Herzl and Lazar had the audience on their feet. What can one say? Just four words suffice: technical brilliance, musical sensitivity”
TIROLER TAGESZEITUNG
Violinist Benjamin Herzl, born in Salzburg in 1994 and now living in Vienna, draws consistent acclaim from audiences and press for his ‘virtuoso perfection’ and ‘profound and exceptional musicality’.
He is a scholarship holder of the Mozart Society of Dortmund, a prize-winner at the International Brahms Competition and the winner of the Mozart Prize endowed by Vadim Repin.
Following his training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Klara Flieder-Panillon, the violinist studied at the Vienna Music Universities under Christian Altenburger and in the soloist class with Julian Rachlin. He also received significant guidance from Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy, Pierre Amoyal at the Académie de Musique de Lausanne, Ivry Gitlis, as well as from Benjamin Schmid and Vadim Gluzman.
He made his debut at the age of just 13 at the International Mozart Festival in Mannheim and has since performed on renowned stages such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus,
the Sendesaal in Bremen, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, the Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the WDR Sendesaal, the Konzerthaus in Dortmund, the Örebro Konzerthus (Sweden), the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Montforthaus Feldkirch, the Musikverein Graz, the Teatro Malibran in Venice and the San Felipe Neri in Havana. He is a regular guest at festivals such as: the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, 1001 Notes Limoges (France), the International Music Festival of Póvoa de Varzim (Portugal), the International Wiesbaden May Festival, ‘Dialoge Salzburg’, the Grafenegg Festival and the Mozart Festival in Havana. During the 2019/20 season, he was the ‘Featured Artist’ in the ‘70 Years of Jeunesse Musicales’ anniversary season.
His repertoire encompasses the classical violin repertoire as well as contemporary works. He maintains a close collaboration with composers such as Gerald Resch, Jakob Gruchmann, Kurt Schwertsik and Fazıl Say, who have dedicated compositions to him, amongst other things. As a soloist, he performs with renowned orchestras including the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt, the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra and the Kurpfälzisches Chamber Orchestra Mannheim. The artist collaborates with conductors such as Nil Venditti, Dennis Russell Davies, H. K. Gruber, Jean-Michaël Lavoie, Erina Yashima and Gérard Korsten.
His chamber music partners include, amongst others, Ariane Haering, Imogen Cooper, Rafael Fingerlos, Lily Francis, Julia Hagen, Reinhard Latzko, Ingmar Lazar, Othmar Müller, Julian Rachlin, Valentin Radutiu, Beatrice Rana, Fazil Say, Andreas Schablas and Thomas Zehetmair.
In the 2025/26 season, Herzl performed with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Oradea Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berliner Philharmonie. To mark the Kurt Weill Year, a recording of his violin concerto will be released in 2025 by BIS Records, in collaboration with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and conducted by H. K. Gruber.
The violinist performs on the ‘ex Guilet’ Joseph Guarneri violin, Cremona 1732, which is made available to him by the Austrian National Bank. This instrument was previously played by Daniel Guilet (Beaux Arts Trio), David Oistrach, Henryk Szeryng and Joshua Bell.
Benjamin Herzl is the founder and artistic director of the Concerti Corti festival, which takes place in Salzburg in honour of the Austrian film director Axel Corti.
