Biography

Ingolf Turban was born in Munich in 1964 and was admitted to Gerhart Hetzel’s violin class there at the age of 12. He attended masterclasses with Jens Ellermann and Dorothy DeLay in the USA.

In 1985, Ingolf Turban became First Concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic, and in 1986 he made his solo debut under the baton of Sergiu Celibidache in Munich. In 1988, he left the orchestra and dedicated more time to his solo career. In 1991, he made his debut at La Scala, Milan, and his USA debut in Washington. He appeared as soloist in the Berlin Philharmonie and the Munich Philharmonie, the Kennedy Center in Washington, New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna and La Scala in Milan with conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Jun Märkl, Yutaka Sado, Franz Welser-Möst, Andris Nelsons and Marcello Viotti.

In addition to the great violin literature, Ingolf Turban commands a repertoire of works, which, in part has never before been heard. His dedication to the work of Niccolò Paganini alone has brought him remarkable critical acclaim, such as for his performance with the New York Philharmonic in March 2006, his complete recording of all six violin concertos (Telos Records) and the television documentary “Paganinis Geheimnis” (merkur.tv).

His extensive repertoire, spanning a great variety of styles, has been documented in over 40 CD productions in the meantime. Many of his much-celebrated world premiere performances have gained recognition for the works performed and led to their inclusion in the standard concert repertoire.

In 2005, Ingolf Turban founded the chamber orchestra “I Virtuosi di Paganini”. In 2006, after spending eleven years as a professor at the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart, he accepted a call to the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. In 2021, Ingolf Turban was honoured with the “Special Achievement Award” at the “International Classical Music Awards” (ICMA).