'Lea Birringer’s tonal radiance and sparkling articulation captivate the senses'

- The Strad-

Verve, passion and ‘full-blooded commitment’ (Gramophone) are the characteristics which Lea Birringer is most often associated with. Recognized as ‘one of the most talented violinists of her generation' (Pizzicato), she is convincing as a soloist with orchestra as well as in recital with piano or in various chamber music ensembles alongside prominent partners.

Her solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonie at the age of 14 marked the beginning of her international career, which has taken her to prestigious venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Florence’s Maggio Musicale, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Munich’s Gasteig and Herkulessaal, and the Louvre in Paris. Among the notable standout moments of her performances to date was her appearance as part of the Salzburg Festival.
In recent years, as a highly sought-after soloist, she has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, the German Radio Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, and the Robert Schumann Philharmonic.

In 2024/25, Lea will debut at the Cologne Philharmonic, perform for the first time with the Pfalzphilharmonie Kaiserslautern, and appear at the Gerhart-Hauptmann Theater in Görlitz-Zittau. She will also collaborate again with esteemed orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Halle, Staatskapelle Weimar, and the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie.

In her playing, the German violinist combines meticulous attention to detail with elevated conceptual standards. This musicality is also reflected in her numerous awards and accolades, including prizes from the international violin competitions Johannes Brahms, Kloster Schöntal, Premio Rodolfo Lipizer, Louis Spohr, and Abram Yampolsky, along with special prizes for her remarkable interpretations of works by Bach and Mozart. For these extraordinary achievements, she was honoured by her hometown of Saarbrücken with the Culture Award.

Lea also has a strong passion for chamber music and has collaborated with artists such as Igor Levit, Pavel Vernikov, Atar Arad, Barbara Bonney, Eszter Haffner and Wen-Sinn Yang. Since childhood, she has performed with her sister, Esther Birringer —a collaboration crowned with victories at international chamber music competitions, including the Premio Vittorio Gui and Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera Città di Pinerolo. The duo has since appeared at renowned festivals, such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Davos Festival, Lugano Musica, and the Usedom Music Festival. Their collaborative albums have been met with enthusiastic critical acclaim.    

For the Rubicon Classics label, Lea has recorded her fifth album, set for release in 2025. In co-production with SWR Kultur, she has recorded the violin concertos by Sibelius and Szymanowski (No. 2) with the State Orchestra Rheinische Philharmonie under Benjamin Shwartz.

Her fourth album, featuring violin concertos by Mendelssohn and Christian Sinding, was recorded with the Hofer Symphoniker under Hermann Bäumer. Lea was hailed as a musician with ‘both a capacity for high emotionality and strong technical mastery’ solidifying ‘her rising stardom as one of Europe’s most recognized and accomplished violinists’ (Fanfare), with The Strad adding that ‘it’s a pleasure to make the acquaintance of the unfamiliar Sinding works in such committed and satisfying performances here’.
From an early age, Lea received special prizes for her remarkable interpretations of Bach’s works, reflecting her deep affinity for the music of the Baroque composer. This connection is showcased on her third Rubicon album, Transformation (2021), which was praised as ‘an ingenious programme celebrating the seemingly inescapable creative impact of Bach’s solo violin music’ (The Strad). The album was nominated for both the International Classical Music Awards and the Opus Klassik.
Her CD Di tanti palpiti, featuring virtuosic concert pieces, was released in 2019 and received the Supersonic Award, along with nominations for the International Classical Music Awards and the German Record Critics’ Award. According to Pizzicato Magazine, the listener can ‘experience virtuosity at the highest level’.

Lea began playing the violin at age three and became a junior student at the Hochschule für Musik Saar at the early age of nine. Her further musical training took her to the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied first in the Pre-College program and the Gifted & Talented programme at the Leopold Mozart Institute. She later earned her bachelor’s degree under Igor Ozim and completed her master’s degree with Pavel Vernikov in Vienna, both with honors. Further important artistic impulses she received from Stephan Picard, Vadim Gluzman, Julian Rachlin, Pierre Amoyal and Itzhak Rashkovsky..
Following her graduation, Lea worked as Pavel Vernikov’s assistant at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, (Sion campus), and served as a long-term guest lecturer at the Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni in Italy. In recent years, she has given masterclasses across Europe, Latin America, and the United States and has been a regular guest lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar. In 2024, she was appointed as a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg.