Julian Rachlin is a Lithuanian-born violinist and violist. Rachlin, who is Jewish, was born in Vilnius on December 8, 1974 and immigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Vienna Conservatory and studied violin in the Soviet tradition with Boris Kuschnir, while also receiving private lessons from Pinchas Zukerman. His career as a child prodigy began with his first public concert in 1984. In 1988, he took the title of Eurovision Young Musician of the Year, which led to his being invited to appear at the Berlin Festival with conductor Lorin Maazel and to his becoming the youngest soloist to ever play with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Riccardo Muti. In the development of his career, Rachlin has enjoyed collaborations with some of the most illustrious maestros in Europe and the United States, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, and André Previn. In 2005, Rachlin made his Carnegie Hall debut when he performed with the New York Philharmonic under Maazel. Besides performing violin concertos, Rachlin also performs chamber music with such artists as Martha Argerich, Itamar Golan, Natalia Gutman, Gidon Kremer, and used to perform with Mstislav Rostropovich. In 2000, he joined Rostropovich and Yuri Bashmet, among others, in the premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's Sextet. The same year, Rachlin also founded his own music festival in Dubrovnik, "Julian Rachlin and Friends". Since 2000, he has also played the concerto and chamber repertoire for the viola. Rachlin's recordings of the violin concertos of Brahms, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky, as well as of Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 147, have been lauded by music critics. In 2000, he was rewarded with the prestigious International Prize of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena. Julian Rachlin plays the 1741 "ex Carrodus" Guarnerius del Gesù violin, loaned to him by the Austrian National Bank. Rachlin's former girlfriend was the renowned Dutch violinist Janine Jansen.
