JULIAN RACHLIN is a soloist, conductor, chamber musician, and teacher with an international career and reputation. At the age of 14, he made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Riccardo Muti as the youngest soloist in the orchestra’s history. Since then, over the course of nearly four decades, he has captivated audiences around the world, eventually taking the podium of the world’s finest ensembles in recent years. He has conducted leading orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Russian National Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Vienna, Birmingham, and RAI Torino. As principal guest conductor, he collaborates with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Turku Philharmonic. Since 2023, he has served as music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, with which he will embark on an international tour in 2025 and develop an ambitious program for artistic growth and international presence. From the same year, he has also served as chief conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, where, following his tenure as principal guest conductor (2018–2023), he has built a lasting creative partnership and attracted distinguished soloists such as Yefim Bronfman, Janine Jansen, and Mischa Maisky. He is the artistic partner of the Rhineland-Palatinate Philharmonic for the 2025/2026 season.
As a violinist, he has performed as a soloist with the Munich Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the Oslo Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the La Scala Orchestra, the Bayreuth Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Christoph Eschenbach, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
He has premiered works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Giya Kancheli, Vangelis, and Lera Auerbach. In 2000, in collaboration with Mstislav Rostropovich, he performed in Penderecki’s Sextet; later, Penderecki composed and dedicated to Rachlin the Concerto Doppio for violin, viola, and orchestra, as well as the Chaconne for violin and viola. He has collaborated on stage with Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin, Denis Matsuev, Janine Jansen, Vilde Frang, and Mischa Maisky. For more than a decade, he has organized and directed the “Julian Rachlin and Friends” festival in Dubrovnik. Since 2021, he has been the artistic director of the Herbstgold Festival at the Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, which under his leadership has established itself as a platform for world-class artists, innovative programs, and interdisciplinary projects. Since 1999, he has taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Rachlin began his professional career in a musical family that emigrated to Vienna. He studied violin with Boris Kushnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and with Pinchas Zukerman in New York. He also studied conducting under Maestro Mariss Jansons. His mentor was Daniele Gatti.
His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, and Warner Classics have been highly praised by critics. He is the recipient of numerous awards and serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
He plays a 1704 Stradivarius violin “ex-Liebig” and a 1785 Lorenzo Storioni viola, provided to him by the private Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Foundation in Vienna. His string instruments are supported by Thomastik-Infeld.