Stephen Waarts

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   “From the first note of Stephen Waarts’ Brahms G Major Sonata I was hooked, and within a few bars I was moved to tears.” (The Strad) 

 

Stephen Waarts’ innate and poetic musical voice has established him as a firm favourite with audiences across the globe.

Stephen has performed with orchestras such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Halle Orchestra, with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Andras Schiff, Marin Alsop, Constantinos Carydis, Nicholas McGegan, Maxime Pascal, Markus Stenz, and Elim Chan.

A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Waarts' debuts at San Francisco Performances and returns to the Vancouver Recital Society with Jonathan Swensen and Juho Pohjonen, Wigmore Hall with Timothy Ridout and Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, and he appears at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with Sir Andras Schiff and friends. He has also appeared in recital at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Philharmonie Haarlem, Fundación Juan March, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Auditorium du Louvre, in addition to the Boulez Saal and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Waarts’ regular chamber partners include Andras Schiff, Francesco Piemontesi, Daniel Müller-Schott, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Timothy Ridout, Tabea Zimmermann, and Martin Helmchen.  Waarts has appeared regularly at festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Gstaad, Krzyżowa, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, and Jerusalem.

Waarts’ diverse recording releases include Mozart Violin Concerto No.1 with the Camerata Schweiz under Howard Griffiths for Alpha Classics, and Hindemith Kammermusik No.4, as part of Ondine Classic’s Kammermusik cycle with Christoph Eschenbach, the Kronberg Academy Soloists and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2020. He released his acclaimed debut recital album for Rubicon Classics in November 2018, with pianist Gabriele Carcano, featuring works by Schumann and Bartók.

Stephen was awarded the International Classical Music Awards Orchestra Award by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in 2019. In March 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He also won Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s soloist award the same year and has performed at the festival every year since. In 2015, he was awarded a scholarship from Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund following his appearance at Krzyżowa-Music. In the same year, his prize-winning success at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition – including securing the majority vote of the television audience – boosted international attention.

Stephen studied at the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, with Aaron Rosand. He also worked with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program, and Li Lin and Alexander Barantschik in San Francisco. In 2013 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, aged just 17. He was also prize-winner at the 2013 Montreal International Competition and won first prize at the 2014 Menuhin Competition.

 From 2016 to 2021 he has studied at Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin, funded by the Bubmann/Rühland patronage. From March 2021 until summer 2023 he was a fellow of Kronberg Academy. 

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