Ilya Gringolts in an interview

"It's not a bad fit at all."

Violinist Ilya Gringolts is a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts. Despite his young age, he already possesses a wealth of musical experience. He performs as a soloist with leading orchestras in Europe, gives numerous solo recitals, and is also frequently heard as a chamber musician with his Gringolts Quartet, which he founded in 2008.

Classicpoint.ch: You studied at the Juilliard School with Itzhak Perlman. What was Itzhak Perlman like for you as a teacher?
"Mr. P" was always a great inspiration, both musically and personally. I saw him perform live in Leningrad in 1990, even as a child. It was an anniversary concert in honor of Tchaikovsky, and it deeply impressed me. I admire his communication skills and his consistently positive demeanor. As a gourmet, he also took me to many wonderful restaurants during my studies. Although our artistic paths diverged somewhat towards the end of my studies, we have maintained a friendly relationship ever since.

You won the international violin competition "Premio Paganini" and received two further special prizes: as the youngest first-prize winner in the competition's history and for the best interpretation of the Paganini Capriccios. Did your life change after this success?
I was just a child when it happened. At that age, circumstances seem to be constantly changing. In fact, shortly after the competition, I went to New York to begin a new chapter. But it was a logical progression. I had always wanted to play concerts, and so it happened, at first sporadically, and then more and more frequently.

The BBC selected you as one of twelve emerging artists for its New Generation Artists Programme. What exactly does this programme entail?
I was able to play and record regularly with various BBC orchestras. Recitals and chamber music concerts were also arranged for me. So, for over two years, I was a frequent visitor to Great Britain and got to know some fantastic musicians, such as Leonard Slatkin, Ilan Volkov, Alexander Melnikov , and many more.

You founded the Gringolts String Quartet. Did you personally select all the musicians, or did the group come together in a different way?
I was just one of the founders! Since my college days, I've been almost continuously a member of a string quartet. I can hardly imagine my artistic life without a string quartet. In New York, I played in the Phaedrus Quartet, which is where I first encountered late Beethoven quartets. Later, when I moved to Zurich, the idea arose to found a string quartet with my wife, who had also played in the Amati Quartet for five years. We've been playing in our current lineup since October 2010. My wife had known the cellist Claudius Herrmann and the violist Silvia Simionescu for a long time. During a meeting at our home, we read through two Beethoven quartets and thought: They actually sound quite good together! A year later, our first recording, featuring Schumann quartets, was released.

You are a professor at the Basel School of Art and Design and a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts. If you compare the two institutions, where do you see differences?
I left my position in Basel when I got the job in Zurich – doing both would be impossible. However, I can't really compare them yet, as I've only been in Zurich for two weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Basel, but I'm happy to be able to work closer to home.

You play a Stradivarius from 1720, which is on loan to you from a private collection. How did you come to own it, and what is your relationship to this instrument?
It's the most beautiful violin I know, and I'm fortunate enough to have met its owner quite by chance. Although I'm used to changing violins regularly, I hope I can play this one for the long haul! The range of possibilities is simply endless.
 
You participated in the "Pearls in front of Stadelhofen" project by reportagen.com and stood in front of a Coop supermarket in Zurich Stadelhofen on the morning of July 18, 2013, and played Bach partitas for 43 minutes. What was this experiment like for you?
I had heard about a similar experiment in Washington with Joshua Bell, and I was fascinated to experience something like that myself. We wanted to observe people's reactions during the early morning rush. The results were similar to Joshua Bell's. It was almost exclusively women and children who listened; the men just rushed past. Nevertheless, playing on the street felt liberating, despite the lack of nature. But the energy of rush hour actually helped me!

Did it go more or less as you imagined, or did you expect a different reaction?
If I had played the same thing on Sunday afternoon by the lake, for example, people probably would have listened more. But that wasn't the point. So the results didn't surprise me. Besides, I was happy to have earned more than Josh :)

You are still very young, what plans and wishes do you have for the future of your career?
I wish for a good balance between family (my highest priority – I have three daughters at home), my concert career, and teaching. Ideally, I wouldn't have to give up anything!

Interview by Florian Schär | Classicpoint.ch | November 4, 2013
Photo: Tomasz Trzebiatowski

Next concerts

June 20, 2026 - Rigi Music Days Concert - Pure Romanticism
September 29, 2026 - Mondi da sogno – Dream Worlds | Vilde Frang II
October 1, 2026 - Musica dal Cielo – Heavenly Music | Vilde Frang III