Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer (; born February 27, 1947) is a Latvian violinist and conductor.

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Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German origin. He began to play the violin at the age of four, receiving tuition from his father and his grandfather, who were both professional violinists. He went on to study at the Riga School of Music and with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory. He won prizes at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1967 (Second Prize), the Paganini Competition in Genoa in 1969 (First Prize) and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1970 (First Prize).

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Kremer's first concert in the West was in Germany in 1975, followed by appearances at the Salzburg Festival in 1976 and in New York in 1977. In 1981, Kremer founded a chamber music festival in Lockenhaus, Austria, with a focus on new and unconventional programming; since 1992 the festival has been known as "Kremerata Musica" and in 1996 Kremer founded the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, composed of young players from the Baltic region. He was also among the artistic directors of the festival "Art Projekt 92" in Munich and is director of the Musiksommer Gstaad festival in Switzerland.

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Kremer is broadly admired for his wide-ranging repertoire, extending from Bach to contemporary composers. He has championed the work of composers such as the Argentine Astor Piazzolla, and of Philip Glass, Alfred Schnittke, Lera Auerbach, Arvo P?rt, and John Adams. Among the many composers who have dedicated work to him is Sofia Gubaidulina (Offertorium). His partners in performance include Valery Afanassiev, Martha Argerich, Oleg Maisenberg and Vadim Sakharov. He has a large discography on the Deutsche Grammophon label, for which he has recorded since 1978, and he has also recorded for Philips and Decca. He plays a Guarneri del Ges? violin dating from 1730.

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February 27: February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years....

1947: 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar)....

Latvia: The Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika) is a country in Northern Europe. Latvia has land borders with its two fellow Baltic states ? Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south ? and Russia and Belarus to the east. In the west Latvia shares a maritime border with Sweden. The capital...