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"Spellbinding . . . a disciplined musician beyond his years"

~San Antonio Express-News

BIOGRAPHY

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Since his concerto debuts at the age of 14 in the United States, Spain, and Portugal, American violinist Eric Gratz has been celebrated as an exciting performer, known for his daring musical interpretations and impressive stylistic versatility. Equally desired as soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician, and teacher, he maintains a varied schedule that has taken him to four continents, performing in the world’s great concert halls with leading musicians of our time.

In 2013, at the age of 22, Gratz became the youngest Concertmaster in North America, accepting the post with the San Antonio Symphony, and appeared numerous times as soloist with the orchestra in repertoire ranging from Bach to Kurt Weill. Additional solo appearances include The Cleveland Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, CityMusic Cleveland, Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Euclid Symphony, Kings Symphony, and the Mid-Texas Symphony, with conductors Giancarlo Guerrero, David Danzmayr, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Akiko Fujimoto, Noam Aviel, and Tito Muñoz. In demand as a Guest Concertmaster, he has appeared in recent seasons with the Santa Fe Opera, The Phoenix Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic.

A dedicated chamber musician and recitalist, Gratz has appeared at Mainly Mozart Festival, Castleton Chamber Players, Austin Chamber Music, Cactus Pear Music Festival, Incontri Musicali, Musical Bridges around the World, Música Ocupa, and frequently performs as a member of the Olmos Ensemble. He has enjoyed collaborations with violinists Vadim Gluzman and Eric Silberger; cellist Julian Schwarz; pianists Anton Nel, Orion Weiss, Jeffrey Kahane, ET Kim, and Jon Kimura Parker; harpsichordist/conductor Jeannette Sorrell; and current/former members of the Vertavo, Pacifica, Mendelssohn, Formosa, and Fine Arts String Quartets.

As a recording artist, Gratz has appeared on several albums. His debut album of virtuoso works for violin and piano (Eric Gratz, with pianist ET Kim) was released in 2016 on his own label. It charted at #11 on Billboard Classical, making it the top independent release in the United States for its first week. He has subsequently recorded two other albums with the Olmos Ensemble, Olmos Live (2016) and Made In France (2019), performing works by Harbison, Prokofiev, and Ravel.

Gratz believes it is of the utmost importance to inspire the next generation of musicians, and currently serves as an Apollo's Fire Senior Teaching Artist-in-Residence at Southland College Prep in South Chicago. He has served on competition juries from the local level to MTNA Nationals, and has been invited to teach at leading music schools, including Rice University, University of Texas Austin, and Texas Christian University. A proponent of utilizing new technology to help democratize education, he has recorded several hours of video courses for TONEBASE, focusing on the music of Kreisler, Ysaÿe, and Beethoven.

A prizewinner of national and international competitions, Eric Gratz holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and his former teachers include Cho-Liang Lin, William Preucil, Linda Cerone, Claudia Shiuh, and Cynthia Stuart. He plays a violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, c. 1840. For more information, please visit ericgratz.com.

BIO