Linda Hedlund (DMus), received her first violin lessons with the age of five. She received a scholarship to study at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with prof. Sergei Kravtchenko (1995-1996) and continued her studies at the University for Music and performing Arts in Vienna with prof. Rainer Küchl. She also studied in Berlin (Hochschule der Künste) with prof. Uwe-Martin Haiberg (2001) and has participated at master classes with a.o. prof. Mi-Kyung Lee, prof. Endre Wolf, prof. Mikhail Kopelman (Borodin Quartet), prof. Günther Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet), prof. Nachum Erlich, prof. Yair Kless and Schlomo Mintz. She also studied chamber music in Vienna with Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet) for several years.
Linda Hedlund graduated in Vienna (University of Music and performing Arts) in 2002 (Master of Arts) and holds a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius-Academy (Finland), where she also has been working as university assistant. Her work has been supported by the Victoria foundation (2008-2011), Niilo Helander foundation, Swedish cultural foundation in Finland, Alfred Kordelin foundation, H&W Grönqvist foundation, Swedish society of literature in Finland, Esek and the Sibelius-Academy. She is member of EST (School of research in music and performing arts in Finland).
Ms Hedlund has been successful in various competitions and has worked as concertmaster a.o. at the Pacific Music Festival Japan (1999) with Michael Tilson Thomas and with Tapiola Sinfonietta (2004). She has also appeared as leader/soloist with Sinfonia da Camera Finlandia and the Austrian Chamber Orchestra.
Linda Hedlund performs as soloist and chamber musician internationally. Her chamber music partners have been a.o. members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, cellist Steven Isserlis, pianists prof. Oliver Kern, Sung-Suk Kang and Ruya Taner, soprano Camilla Nylund, guitarist Otto Tolonen and jazz guitarist Marzi Nyman. Ms Hedlund has worked as soloist with a.o. conductors Anna-Maria Helsing, Mikk Murdvee, Nazanin Aghakhani, Klaus Rautawaara, Shardad Rohani and Rengim Gökmen. She also frequently performs contemporary music and is currently commissioning a violin concerto by composer Jimmy López.
Ms Hedlund has performed successfully as soloist and chamber musician at many prestigious festivals including Helsinki Festival (Finland), Musica Nova (Helsinki), Grafenegg Festival (Austria), Honart Festival Konzerthaus Wien and in Carnegie Hall, New York. Her performances have also been broadcasted on radio and TV in Finland (Yle), Czech Republic (Radio Free Europe), in Austria (ORF) and in the US (WFMT). The upcoming concert season is planned to include performances in a.o. Musikverein, Vienna and Kennedy Center, Washington DC.
She founded the Emäsalo Music Festival in 2007, taking place each summer in southern Finland.
In June 2008 the Finnish company Fuga released her acclaimed debut CD with the sonatas by Franck, Saint-Saëns and Debussy performed together with German pianist prof. Oliver Kern. A new CD together with guitarist Otto Tolonen was released 2011 for Classic Concert Music Group, Salzburg.
In addition to her career as a performing artist, Ms Hedlund has continued her academic career as visiting scholar at a.o. University of Hawai’i (2011).
She has kindly been provided with a Carlo Antonio Testore violin (1730) by the OP-Pohjola Bank Arts Foundation and has also kindly been supported with violins including an Antonius Stradivarius (1686) from Machold Rare Violins, Vienna.
Discography
-Franz Schubert: “The Trout” Piano Quintet “Das Forellenquintett” A major Op. Post. 114, Ensemble Wien-Helsinki Oliver Kern piano Live CD 2005 Nedai Records
-Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, César Franck Sonatas for violin and piano, Linda Hedlund Oliver Kern, 2008 Fuga Records-9261
-Philip Glass: “A Madrigal Opera” for violin, viola & 6 voices, Orange Mountain Music 2009
-Music for violin and guitar, Linda Hedlund Otto Tolonen, Classic Concert Music Group 2011