Anneliese-Clara Gahl

Senior Lecturer in Violin⋅Strings Department⋅Pre-College⋅Institute for Chamber Music

The Viennese violinist Annelie Gahl is the recipient of the Anton Bruckner Prize and the Paula Boleszny Prize. Her international career at the highest artistic level is marked by vitality, communicative intensity and intellectual curiosity. The Salzburger Nachrichten praised her “brilliantly focused violin playing”, while The Strad described her debut CD innaron as an “auspicious and exciting solo debut”.

Soon after completing her studies in Salzburg, Vienna and Illinois, Annelie Gahl had the privilege of working with Sándor Végh and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, both of whom profoundly influenced her artistic development. She not only took solo lessons with them, but also performed as a member of their ensembles, Camerata Salzburg and Concentus Musicus, with which she remains associated to this day.

She continued her ensemble work as a guest performer with Klangforum Wien and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and as leader of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. She made her solo debut in 2002 at the Vienna Musikverein with the Camerata Salzburg. More recently, she received great acclaim for her Austrian premieres of Amanda Maier Röntgen’s Violin Concerto (1875) and Ethel Smyth’s Double Concerto for Violin and Horn (1928).

Chamber music collaborations with Ivry Gitlis (at the renowned IMS Prussia Cove Festival), Lukas and Veronika Hagen, Enrico Bronzi, Klara Flieder and Ernst Kovacic, among others, have been a particular source of inspiration.

Her focus on contemporary music is also a key factor in her diverse and dynamic career. Her imaginative programmes, which often combine music with literature, dance and visual arts, have taken her to festivals such as Wien Modern, the Salzburg Festival, the Salzburg Biennale, the Hall Easter Festival, Styriarte, Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, Festival Imago Dei and the Philharmonie Luxembourg, among many others.

Annelie Gahl has gained international recognition through her solo recordings on the labels Extraplatte, col legno and Kairos, in which she brings together early and contemporary music. Her recording of works by John Cage, made in collaboration with composer Klaus Lang, was immediately awarded the ORF’s Pasticcio Prize and described by the German magazine Rondo as “probably the most beautiful in many years”.

Annelie Gahl feels a deep sense of gratitude to her teachers Paul Roczek, Ernst Kovacic and Shmuel Ashkenasi. This gratitude drives her commitment to passing on her experience to the next generation; teaching at the Mozarteum University has therefore been a central focus of her work since 2002.

Initially working as an assistant to Lukas Hagen, among others, and since 2018 teaching students of her own, she has followed with pride the successes of numerous pupils at international competitions and auditions. She complements her work at the Mozarteum by giving masterclasses and coaching ensembles in Austria, Greece, Israel, Poland, Germany, Moscow and China.