Biography
A Young Star on the Violin
The standout performer of the evening was the 20-year-old violinist Julian Kainrath, who delivered a ballad by Eugène Ysaÿe and Bach’s D minor Chaconne with power, expression, and exceptional virtuosity.
Classic and Poetic
[…] Julian Kainrath’s ability to produce a rich, warm, and deep tone that tinges Grieg’s distant harmonies with a melancholic gaiety in the Allegro molto e appassionato of his third sonata. Indeed, the young violinist from Tyrol displays a rare ability to produce a full-bodied sound that he projects with great force into the farthest reaches of the medieval courtyard of the Musée de la Castre.
“Certainly, he has a unique and full-bodied sound, but it’s the musical intelligence that is capable of returning melodies to the musical phrases, filled with infinite inflections from the changing dynamics, like verses of a multi-voiced poem that constitutes the true mastery of his interpretation.”
Winner of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) Discovery Award in 2022 at the age of 16, and of the Ysaye International Music Competition in 2025, Julian Kainrath regularly performs both as a soloist and recitalist. Born in Merano, Italy, he started his violin studies at the age of six and has been given public performances since he was ten years old. Announcing the ICMA’s Discovery Award the President of the Jury Remy Franck said: “our winners are the expression of the highest artistry”. Julian’s appearance under conductor Adam Fischer with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Luxembourg Philharmonie was highly praised by critics: “In the second program item, the audience was treated to a particularly outstanding performance. The 16-year-old violinist Julian Kainrath from Merano, winner of the Discovery Award, not only gave a brilliant rendition of the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saens, but also, despite his young age, knew how to give this work a very personal interpretation, after which one can hope for much more to come from this true artist”.
During the 2024/2025 season, Julian performed recitals and concertos with orchestra in Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States. Highlights include his debut in Venice at the Apollonian Halls of Teatro La Fenice; a performance of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin at the Ristori Baroque Festival in Verona; debuts with the Leverkusen Symphony in Germany, the University of Milan Orchestra, and the Bari Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Neil Thompson; as well as a Bach-focused project with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn. He also undertook several tours across cities in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Belgium.
His 2024 summer festival appearances included the Engadin Festival in St. Moritz, Switzerland; the Althafen Stiftung in Berlin; and the Tonadico Festival in Italy. In 2025, he performed in Austria (Stiftskonzerte Klassik), Rome (Riviera di Ulisse Festival), and Bulgaria (Art Gallery of Sofia).
In the upcoming season, Julian will return to the Merano Music Weeks Festival in Italy, perform with the Zürcher Kammerorchester under the direction of Daniel Hope, and embark on an extensive tour in Italy alongside pianist Lilya Zilberstein.
Watch Julian’s appearance under conductor Adam Fischer with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Luxembourg Philharmonie.
Julian’s performances included recitals with pianists Till Fellner and Louis Lortie.
The recital at the BA Classica Festival in Busto Arsizio, Italy, with the great pianist Louis Lortie was a milestone in Julian’s musical development: “The concert offered moments of sublime music thanks to the synergy between the two performers, which deeply moved the audience,” wrote the critics. Since then, Louis Lortie has become an important mentor and point of reference.
During the 2020 pandemic, Julian was invited by the Konzerthaus Wien, the renowned concert hall in Vienna, to participate in their virtual concert series Konzertzuhaus. Together with the celebrated pianist Till Fellner, Julian performed a Beethoven violin sonata to mark the composer’s anniversary year. Shortly afterward, the two were invited to perform a full recital in Appiano, Italy.
Julian has also performed at the Società del Quartetto in Bergamo, at Amici della Musica in Padua, at the Austrian Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., USA, and at the Jeunes Talents Festival in Cannes, France. He appeared at the Suoni a Ledro Festival, in the Sala delle Colonne of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Milan, in Trieste with the Ferruccio Busoni Orchestra, and at the magnificent Ehrbar Saal in Vienna, Austria. He has performed in the Angelika-Kauffmann-Hall in Schwarzenberg, Austria; at the Teatro alla Scala Museum in Milan; at the Teatro Ristori in Verona with the orchestra I Virtuosi Italiani; at the Bergerac Festival in France; and in Bern, Marseille, Munich, and Liechtenstein.
Since the age of 15, Julian has maintained an intense performing schedule. In previous seasons, he was invited to perform at numerous venues in Italy, including the Settimane Musicali Festival in Merano, the Società dei Concerti in Milan, Mattinate Musicali Internazionali in Trieste, Camerata Ducale in Vercelli, and the Bolzano Bozen Festival with the Streicherakademie Bozen orchestra.
At the age of 14, Julian was selected as a “resident student” at the 26th Verbier Festival, where he performed concerts and took masterclasses with renowned violinists such as Pamela Frank, Donald Weilerstein, and Kristóf Baráti. He also studied under violinist Ilya Gringolts at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and had the opportunity to perform a recital dedicated to Steve Reich together with Gringolts. He participated in the Sommerakademie Schloss Heiligenberg under the guidance of Marc Bouchkov and was awarded a prize for his performance.
Julian made his orchestral solo debut in South America (Bolivia) in 2015, at the age of 10. In 2016, he was invited by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to perform in Kyiv. At the age of 13, he toured with the Innstrumenti Chamber Orchestra, performing at the Haus der Musik in Innsbruck and at the Kursaal in Merano, earning enthusiastic praise from the press (“the young South Tyrolean has such an organic connection to his instrument, and outstanding technique and musicality,” “the applause was for the 13-year-old Julian Kainrath, who confidently played Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen… what a fullness of sound came from his instrument!”, “he dashed through the variations with bravura and received a thunderous ovation”).
Julian has also performed at the Arsonore Festival in Graz, in the Young Excellence in Concert series in Salzburg, in recital in Bressanone, Italy, and appeared in a RAI broadcast performing works by Paganini and Bartók.
Julian studied violin with Dora Schwarzberg in Vienna and was admitted at the age of twelve into the class of Boris Kuschnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. Since 2023, he has been a student of Marc Bouchkov at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège in Belgium.
From 2019 to 2021, Julian was a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein.
