13 Facts About Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica.

Gidon Kremer's father was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust.

Gidon Kremer's grandfather Karl Bruckner was a well-known musicologist and violinist in Riga.

Gidon Kremer began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather, who were both professional violinists.

From 1965, Kremer studied with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory.

Gidon Kremer debuted in Germany at the festival Bachwoche Ansbach and in the Berlin Philharmonie in 1975 and in London under Andre Previn in 1976, followed by appearances at the Salzburg Festival in 1976 and in New York City and in Japan in 1977.

In 1981, Gidon Kremer founded a chamber music festival in Lockenhaus, Austria, with a focus on new and unconventional programming, serving as artistic director for 30 years until 2011.

Gidon Kremer was among the artistic directors of the festival "Art Projekt 92" in Munich and is director of the Musiksommer Gstaad festival and Basel in Switzerland.

Gidon Kremer made regular appearances at the Verbier Festival until the summer of 2011, when he publicly criticised the perceived 'star culture' aspect of the festival and withdrew from the festival.

Gidon Kremer has a large discography on the Deutsche Grammophon label, for which he has recorded since 1978.

Gidon Kremer has recorded for Philips Records, EMI, Decca Records, ECM and Nonesuch Records.

In other media, Gidon Kremer played the role of Paganini in Peter Schamoni's 1983 film Fruhlingssinfonie and was the music director of the film Le joueur de violon by Charles Van Damme.

Gidon Kremer is the author of four books on music, including Fragments of Childhood and Letters to a Young Pianist.