Matthias Buchholz

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Matthias Buchholz, born 14 December 1957 in Hamburg, is a German violist, chamber musician, and viola professor in Cologne and Geneva. He studied in Hamburg, the University of Cincinnati, Detmold, and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He won prizes at major viola competitions in Bonn (1978), Los Angeles (1981), and Budapest (1984) and has performed since 1976 as a soloist and chamber musician. He has worked with the American String Quartet and the Auryn Quartet, touring Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

In 1991 he joined the Linos Ensemble. From 2003 to 2008 he co-founded the Heine Quartet, which premiered Adagio für Streichquartett by Aribert Reimann in 2006 at the Düsseldorfer Schumannfest. In 1986 he became principal violist of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Four years later he started teaching viola at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.

In 2013 he moved to the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) as viola professor, succeeding Nobuko Imai. He gives masterclasses worldwide, including in Japan, Taiwan, China, and South Korea, and was a member of the Hwaum Chamber Orchestra in Seoul. He regularly performs at major chamber music festivals and lives in Cologne with three children.