Philippe's
ever-questing mind led him to rediscover original
settings of classics such as Chausson's Poème
and Ravel's Tzigane. He has also brought back
to life the forgotten violin concertos of
G. Fauré, Saint-Saens and the English
composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, as well
as championing rare sonatas such as the Bruno
Walter, thereby expanding the repertoire.
Philippe has shared the stage with some of
the greatest musicians of our time: Lord Menuhin,
M.Rostropovich, Martha Argerich, S.Commisiona,
Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Additionally he regularly
partners the cellists Gary Hoffman, Truls
Mork, pianists Pascal Devoyon, Stephen Kovacevich,
Claire Desert and the Chilingirian Quartet
to name but a few.
Philippe Graffin is the founder and artistic
director of "Consonances", the international
chamber music festival of St Nazaire, France
and is invited regularly to appear at the
major chamber music festivals across Europe
and the United States. He has also appeared
in the BBC Proms Chamber Music series and
been invited to be Artistic Director of several
chamber music projects at London's Wigmore
Hall.
As concerto soloist, he has performed all
over Europe with orchestras such as the Royal
Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National
Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic,
Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique
de Radio France, the Hague's Residentie Orkest,
Gothenburg Symphony, Czech Philharmonic and
the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Contemporary music forms an essential part
of Philippe's interests. A number of composers
have written for him: most recently the Lithuanian
composer Vytautas Barkauskas has received
the 2004 Lithuanian National Prize for Art
for his violin concerto "Jeux",
which he dedicated to Philippe. David Matthews
wrote his 2nd violin concerto for Philippe
and Yves Prin, Vassili Lobanov and Philippe
Hersant have written solo pieces for him.
Currently, the celebrated Russian composer
Rodion Shchedrin is writing a work for violin
and orchestra for Philippe. Additionally,
Barkauskas is creating a double concerto specifically
for Graffin and violist Nobuko Imai, and American
composer Joel Hoffman is composing a concerto
for violin, accordion and strings.
Philippe has made numerous landmark recordings
for Hyperion that have won many awards, including
the complete Chausson chamber music, the three
Saint-Saëns violin concertos and a wonderful
collection of rare French works for violin
and orchestra. Pending releases are discs
of rare sonatas of Pierre de Breville and
Joseph Canteloube with Pascal Devoyon for
Hyperion and the concertos of Dvorak and Coleridge-Taylor
for Avie records.
Last season Graffin gave recitals in Oxford,
Cambridge, London, Paris, Amsterdam &
Brussels as well as concerts in New York for
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
and a wide range of concerto engagements from
Mendelssohn in Amsterdam, Elgar in Johannesburg,
Mozart in Monte-Carlo as well as Ravel &
Wienawski with the Orchestra of Opera North
and Miklos Rosza with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Following the huge success of his world première
recording of the Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto
with the Johannesburg Philharmonic, he made
his BBC Proms debut in August 2005 with the
work, rarely heard since its British premiere
in 1912 under Sir Henry Wood. Current season
highlights include tours to Japan & Korea,
performances of Saint-Saëns Third Violin
Concerto and Mozart's Third Violin Concerto
in The Netherlands, a Welsh tour with the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales and a performance
of Shchedrin's Concerto Cantabile with the
St Petersburg Philharmonic.
Philippe Graffin plays a Domenico Busano violin,
made in Venice, 1730.
Link to Phillipe's website
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