Swiss violinist Esther Hoppe enjoys a multifaceted international career as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. Following studies in Basel, Philadelphia and London, she won first prize at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 2002. As the violinist of the Tecchler Trio (2003–2011), she went on to win numerous additional prizes, including first prize at the International ARD Competition in Munich.
Alongside solo performances with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Les Siècles, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, she is an active chamber musician. She regularly collaborates with partners such as Clemens and Veronika Hagen, Sharon Kam, Lars Anders Tomter, Francesco Piemontesi, Heinz Holliger, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Pascal Moraguès.
She is currently the violinist in a trio with Ronald Brautigam and Christian Poltéra. The trio performs at leading concert venues throughout Europe, often seeking to create an original sound through the use of fortepiano and gut strings.
Esther Hoppe is a regular guest at major festivals such as Lucerne Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, Musiktage Mondsee, Styriarte Graz, the Delft Chamber Music Festival and Mozartwoche Salzburg.
She has been Professor of Violin at the Mozarteum University Salzburg since 2013, and her students have gone on to enjoy significant international success.
Following highly praised CD recordings for Claves Records featuring works by Mozart, Stravinsky and Poulenc, in collaboration with pianist Alasdair Beatson, her complete recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin was released in 2022 on the same label, achieving international acclaim. Further recordings have appeared on Virgin Classics, Neos, Concentus Records and Ars Musici.
She has been Artistic Director of Camerata Zurich since 2025.
She plays the “De Ahna” Stradivarius violin from 1722.