Pierre Amoyal
Pierre Amoyal is well known to music lovers. He has played with the greatest conductors and orchestras in the most prestigious concert halls of the world. This virtuoso is also the lucky owner of one of the most beautiful violins ever made – the famous “Kochanski”, a Stradivarius that was stolen from him in 1987, and which was miraculously recovered four years later by the Italian “Carabinieri”.
When Amoyal was only 12 years old, he completed his studies at the Paris Conservatory with a First Prize. The prodigy then left for Los Angeles to study with the legendary Jascha Heifetz. The two spent five intense years together, culminated by chamber music concerts and recordings with the cellist, Gregor Piatigorski.
At the age of 22, he made his European debut with the late Sir George Solti and the Orchestra de Paris, followed by appearances in all of the major European capitals, as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America and the Far East. Amoyal has played under some of the most important conductors of the last three decades: von Karajan, Ozawa, Boulez, Maazel, Solti, Pretre, Sanderling, Roshdestvensky, Rattle, and Mung Whun Chung, to name only a few. His first appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic under Maestro von Karajan in Berlin was followed by many further performances with this orchestra, including the German premiere of the Dutilleux Concerto under Lorin Maazel. In 1985, he made his recital debut in Carnegie Hall, which received outstanding critical acclaim.
He was the youngest musician ever to be nominated as a professor at the Paris Conservatory. Following his move to Switzerland, he now teaches at the Lausanne Conservatory. Also in Lausanne he initiated a novel music academy, dedicated to the violin/piano repertoire, which he gives annually with Bruno Carino.
