Rachel Kolly d'Alba

Early life

Kolly d'Alba received her first violin and piano lesson at the age of five. She studied at the Conservatoire de Lausanne where she received, at 15 years old, the diploma for teaching for the violin and for chamber music. She went on with her studies at the University for Music and Drama in Berne in the class of the renowned Slovenian violinist and teacher Igor Ozim. In addition to her violin studies, she studied orchestration with Jean Balissat, composition with Michael Jarrell in Geneva and contemporary chamber music with Bruno Canino. She took also master classes with Franco Gulli (Bloomington), with Thomas Kakuska (Alban Berg Quartet), with Thomas Brandis, Hansheinz Schneeberger and Ivry Gitlis.

Career

Considered as one of the most successful Swiss soloists and recognized internationally, she made her debut as a soloist at the age of twelve. Kolly d'Alba has appeared recently as a soloist with orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the BBC Philharmonic, the Berner Symphonie-Orchester, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, The Orchestra della RAI Torino, the Real Orquesta Seville, the Berne Chamber Orchestra, the Jenaer Philharmonie, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the national symphony Orchestra of Lituenia, the Bienne Chamber Orchestra, The Orchestre de chambre de Toulouse, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, The hr-Sinfonieorchester "Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra", the Biel symphonic Orchestra, or the Orchestre de chambre Fribourgeois and has worked with conductors such as John Axelrod, Dmitri Kitayenko, Daniel Kawka, Laurent Gendre, Pascal Rophé, Kaspar Zehnder, Jonathan Harrisson, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Urs Peter Schneider, Zolt Nagy, Hervé Klopfenstein and Marc Kissoczy among others.

She is invited to play at numerous renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Festival de Divonne, Festival Violon sur le sable in Royan, Festival Beethoven in Chicago, or Internazionale Festival di Musica in Este, Contemporary Music Festival Yerevan, Festival Schleswig Holstein, Festival de Menton, Encuentros and Mozarteum at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Chilean Sigall, International festival of Flanders and Murten classics.

Kolly d'Alba plays a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1732 on loan from a French collector.

Kolly d'Alba has premiered many new works by such composers as Tristan Murail, Éric Gaudibert, Frederic Perreten, Valentin Villard, Fréderic Danel, Marco Attila, Katrin Frauchiger, Jonas Kocher, Brice Catherin, among others.

Kolly d'Alba signed worldwide with the major recording label Warner Classics in 2010. Her first CD Passion Ysaÿe presenting the six violin sonatas by composer Eugène Ysaÿe received unanimous praise in the international press. Kolly d'Alba became the first Swiss musician to record for the Warner Music Group. Her next CD, as soloist with conductors Jean-Jacques Kantorow and John Axelrod, entitled French Impressions, features music for violin and orchestra by Saint-Saëns, Chausson, Ravel and Ysaÿe, and was released on the same label in October 2011. This CD was voted Best Recording of the Year in the Concerto category by the prestigious International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2012. Kolly d'Alba was one of 215 nominees from classical music and recording reviews.

In 2012, Kolly d'Alba's third Warner Classics release is entitled American Serenade and features works by American composers Gershwin, Bernstein and Waxman with continuing support from John Axelrod and L'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Released worldwide in October 2012, it was rated five stars in the French magazine Diapason and in the BBC magazine, received the "supersonic" award from Pizzicato Magazine, and was immediately nominated for the same ICMA award.

Season 13/14 includes concerts as a soloist with major Orchestras around the world such as Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, hr-Sinfonieorchester "Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra", or Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Debut at the Wigmore Hall in London. Her following recording came out in February 2015 and is entitled "fin de siècle", presenting works of Chausson and Franck.

Personal life and other interests

Kolly d'Alba currently lives in a chalet in the mountains above Montreux, Switzerland, and according to newspapers, she lives without television and radio. She has a daughter, born 2006, from a previous marriage. Her interests include writing, literature and travel.

Kolly d'Alba supports a humanitarian cause as an ambassador for Handicap International. In March 2012, she traveled to Cambodia for her first mission. She is an honorary citizen of the city of Asuncion (Paraguay), having worked with kids having Aids, played three seasons in a row with the Orchestra of the city of Asuncion, and gave masterclasses with National Sonidos de la Tierra Program.

Discography