The German-Colombian violinist Laura Handler performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician in Europe, the USA and Asia. The Münchner Abendzeitung praised her "paganiniesque charisma and equal virtuosity" and her "superior playing with an irresistible grandeur" in several reviews.
Laura Handler is a multiple prizewinner at national and international competitions. In addition to numerous first prizes at "Jugend Musiziert" in the violin and singing categories, she received the Paul Roczek Award and was a prizewinner at the International Khachaturian Competition, the Concorso 21 Ruggiero Ricci, the International Novosibirsk Violin Competition, the Queen Sophie Charlotte Competition and the Concorso Internazionale Luigi Zanuccoli.
She can look back on an extensive concert career. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in halls such as Munich's Herkulessaal, the Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin, Hamburg's Leaiszhalle and Shenzhen Hall. At the age of 11, she performed as a soloist at the children's concerts of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Heinrich Klug and at the age of 12, she performed together with her sister at the piano at the Bavarian Radio's Sternstundengala, which was broadcast live on television.
Since then, she has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, the Imola Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Laura Handler has also been invited to play at prominent festivals such as the Dvorak Prague Festival, the LvivMozArt Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Festival, the Ravel Festival, the Zermatt Festival and the Munich Stars & Rising Stars Festival alongside artists such as Daniel Müller-Schott and Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
Born in 1998, Laura Handler received her first violin lessons at the age of 6. At the age of 14, she was accepted as a junior student at the Zakhar Bron Academy in Interlaken and from 2016 to 2018 she was also a junior student of Paul Roczek at the Mozarteum Salzburg and a member of the Leopold Mozart Institute for Gifted Students. She completed her bachelor's degree with Harald Herzl at the Mozarteum in 2023 and is now continuing her master's degree with Nora Chastain at the Berlin University of the Arts.
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Laura Handler also received important musical inspiration from Maxim Vengerov, Ana Chumachenco, Ingolf Turban, Vadim Repin, Mihalea Martin and Vadim Gluzman. She gained orchestral experience with the Gustav Mahler youth orchestra, in the production "Eva and Adam" as part of the Opera Festival 2019 of the Bavarian State Opera and as concertmaster of the Enigma Classica ensemble under the direction of Anna Handler. She was an academist with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra from 2021 - 2023 and currently has a substitute position with the Vienna Philharmonic. Since 2023 she has been a member of the Artel Quartet based in Vienna.
Laura Handler is a scholarship holder of the Yehudi Menuhin Organization Live Music Now, the Studienstiftung Cusanuswerk, the PE-Förderungen für Studierende der Musik e.V., the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, the Villa Musica Foundation and the Sinfonima Foundation, which provides her with a violin by Giuseppe Odoardi from 1780.​​