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KristīneBalanas

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  • Violin

About Kristīne

In demand for her “savage, bold, dramatic playing” (The Strad), Kristīne’s head-turning transformation from a street musician and rock singer in Latvia to a graduate with honours from the Royal Academy of Music where she studied under György Pauk, and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler under Kolja Blacher, marks her as an entirely idiosyncratic presence on stage.

The 24/25 season will see Kristīne make her debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra playing Bartok Violin Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Jukka-Pekka Saraste and with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra playing Korngold's Violin Concerto. Further performances include the Barber Violin Concerto at the inaugural concert of Chromatica Orchestra in London, the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, and Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 2 with Cappella Aquileia at Opernfestspiele Heidenheim under the direction of Marcus Bosch.

Recent highlights have included the Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria Tokyo with Trevor Pinnock, Orchestre National de Montpellier directed by Ainars Rubikis, Latvian National Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Concerto Budapest, George Enescu Philharmonic and returns to Philharmonie Merck and Risør Chamber Music Festival with Tine Thing Helseth. Kristīne recently made her Japanese debut with a solo recital and concerto engagement with the Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra and was joined by her sister Margarita Balanas at "Night of the Young Stars", Dresdner Musikfestspiele, at the invitation of Jan Vogler.

Kristīne’s many successes in previous seasons include her debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Andris Poga at the Cadogan Hall, a nationwide tour with Kremerata Baltica, remarkable performances of the Brahms Double Concerto alongside her sister Margarita with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra at the prestigious L’Auditori in Barcelona, appearances with the Saarbrücken Symphony Orchestra under Sebastian Rouland and with the OrquestaClasica Santa Cecilia with conductor Lavard Skou Larsen.

Kristīne performs on the 1694 'Rutson' Stradivarius violin, kindly loaned to her by the Royal Academy of Music.

Kristīne is based in London, ,

Contact

For availability and general inquiries:

Rachel Bertaut

Rachel Bertaut

Senior Artist Manager

For contracts, logistics and press:

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

Season Highlights

Oct 2024
Battersea Arts Centre, London
Barber: Violin Concerto Prokofiev: Sonata for Two Violins Chromatica Orchestra Charlotte Politi (conductor)
Mar 2025
National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Korngold: Violin Concerto National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra
Apr 2025 - Apr 2025
Musiikkitalo Concert Hall, Helsinki
Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 1 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
Jun 2025
Weilburger Schloßkonzerte
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Göttinger Symphony Orchestra Nicholas Milton (conductor)
Jul 2025
Heidenheim
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1 Cappella Aquileia Opernfestspiele Heidenheim Marcus Bosch (conductor)

Photos

Selected Repertoire

Barber

Violin Concerto

Bartok

Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2

Beethoven

Violin Concerto

Beethoven

Triple Concerto

Berg

Violin Concerto

Brahms

Violin Concerto

Bruch

Violin Concerto

Dvořák

Violin Concerto

Elgar

Violin Concerto

Glazunov

Violin Concerto

Haydn, J

Violin Concerto in C major

Korngold

Violin Concerto

Mendelssohn

Violin Concerto in E minor • Violin Concerto in D minor

Mozart

Violin Concertos No. 1-5

Prokofiev

Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2

Tchaikovsky

Violin Concerto

Vasks

Violin Concertos

Vaughan Williams

The Lark Ascending

News

Press

  • VASKS Violin Concerto 'Distant Light'

    Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, Germany
    Apr 2022 - Apr 2022
    • Solistin beim begeisternden siebten Sinfoniekonzert im GroBen Haus de Oldenburgischen Staatstheaters ist die lettische Geigerin Kristine Balanas. Sie zaubert betorend leise Tone aus ihrer Gragnani-Violine von 1787 und fuhrt mit hochster Expressivitat durch die schillernde Klangwelt des mit "Fernes Licht" betitelten gut halbstundigen Violinkonzerts. The soloist in the inspiring seventh symphony concert in the Great House of the Oldenburg State Theatre is the Latvian violinist Kristine Balanas. She conjures up beguilingly quiet tones from her Gragnani violin from 1787 and leads with the highest expressivity through the dazzling sound world of the half-hour violin concerto entitled "Fernes Licht". In den Solokadenzen brilliert sie im mehrstimmigen Spiel, was sich durch verschiedenste Emotionen hindurch bis hin zu ekstatischen Ausbruchen steigert. In the solo cadenzas, she shines in polyphonic playing, which rises through the most diverse emotions to ecstatic outbursts.

  • Barber Violin Concerto, Chromatica Orchestra

    Battersea Arts Centre
    Oct 2024
    • Barber’s 1940 Violin Concerto brought sweep and passion from the orchestra ... and a muscular performance from the soloist Kristīne Balanas, every note secure and full-toned. The fast finale was a white-knuckle ride; but the spark of virtuosity came across more immediately when Balanas and Bosma joined together for two movements from Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins in C Major, their lines intertwining one moment, duelling punchily the next.

Kristīne Balanas debuts with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

/02 April 2025

Kristīne Balanas takes the stage for her debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra this evening for the first of two performances of Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.1 conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

The concerts follow Kristīne’s National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra debut with Korngold’s Violin Concerto conducted by Darrell Ang. Earlier in the season, Kristīne performed Barber’s Violin Concerto at the inaugural concert of the Chromatica Orchestra at the Battersea Arts Centre, and teamed up with her sister Margarita for a tour of Australia which included a concert at the Sydney Opera House.

Coming up, Kristīne joins the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and performs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Cappella Aquileia at Opernfestspiele Heidenheim under the direction of Marcus Bosch.

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