Listening Beyond the Score:
Violin as a Medium of Dialogue

Eszter Haffner is one of the most respected violinists of our time. For more than 25 years she has been captivating audiences worldwide with her distinctive sound, superb musicianship, and wide-ranging repertoire. In recognition of her artistic work and social engagement, she received the “Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria” in 2021. Always open to new musical horizons, she also appears regularly as a viola player.

 

Haffner studied in the Gifted Musician Class of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest with András Kiss, Ferenc Rados, György Kurtág, and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) and Josef Sivo. She received her Diploma with unanimous distinction and a prize from the Department of Culture, Vienna. Further studies led her to Viktor Liberman and Philippe Hirschhorn in the Netherlands, as well as to numerous master classes with Josef Gingold, Lorand Fenyves, Alberto Lysy, Tibor Varga, Igor Ozim, and Sándor Végh. She is a laureate of international competitions (Concertino Praga, Koncz Violin Competition, Stephanie Hohl, Trapani, Caltanissetta) and the recipient of scholarships from the Alban Berg, Sobotka, Erasmus, Janeček, and Ziehrer Foundations, as well as the PE Förderkreis (Promotion Circle) in Mannheim.

 

As a soloist and chamber musician (violin and viola), she has collaborated with Clemens Hagen, Gerhard Schulz, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alexander Lonquich, Arto Noras, Pamela Frank, Lars Anders Tomter, Christian Altenburger, Wolfgang Schulz, Marko Letonja, Nicolas Chumachenco, Stefan Vladar, and many others. Haffner has taught at leading festivals such as the Menuhin Festival Blonay, Prussia Cove, Sion, Brighton Festival, Römerberg Festival, Wörthersee Classics, Klangbogen Wien, Casals Festival France, Styriarte Graz, Brahms Days Mürzzuschlag, Villa Musica, Cervantino Festival Mexico, Haydn Festival, Schubertiade, Bregenz Festival. Her recordings, released by NEIRO Productions Vienna and supported by the Austrian National Bank, reflect a broad repertoire from Joseph Haydn to Hanns Eisler. They include piano trios by Bohuslav Martinů, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Zoltán Kodály (Haffner Trio), Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Bettina Gradinger, and sonatas by Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Eisler.

 

At a young age, she was appointed professor of Violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (2002), and also at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen (2010). She has taught as a guest professor at Yale, Eastman, New York University, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington, Toho University, Royal College of Art in London, Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, and Villa Musica in Mainz, among many others. She was a jury member at many violin competitions, including the Louis Spohr Competition (Germany), the Isang Yun Competition (South Korea), the Andrea Postacchini Competition (Italy), the Szymanowski Competition (Poland), the Grażyna Bacewicz Competition (Poland), the Serguei Azizian Violin Competition (Denmark), and the Johannes Brahms Competition (Austria).

 

Haffner is a member of the Haffner Strings, the Haffner Trio, and the Aurora Chamber Ensemble (Sweden). She plays the 1750 ex-Hamma Segelmann violin by Nicola Bergonzi, on loan from the Austrian National Bank, with strings sponsored by Larsen Strings and a bow by Mr. Charles Shih.

E-mail: haffner@mdw.ac.at