Berent Korfker Berent Korfker gave his first concert as soloist with orchestra at the age of 13. After winning prizes at the Wieniawski competition (Beethoven Prize) and the Oscar Back violin competition (2nd prize and Contemporary Music Award) he played throughout Europe, in Russia, Japan, the United States and Australia, both as soloist with orchestra and in recitals. He appeared in venues such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Beethoven Saal in Bonn, the Palacio de Festivales in Santander and the Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama and has performed concertos with orchestras like the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Lithuania, the Noord-Holland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. In 2006, recitals in Chicago and Montpellier were broadcast on live radio and television. In January 2008 Korfker made his London debut playing the Tchaikowski Concerto in Cadogan Hall. Highlights of 2009 were Mozart's A major concerto in Guernsey and London and a recital at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with pianist benjamin Frith. Korfker has recorded 2 disks which were well received by the international press, naming the sonata by Fauré on the first CD one of best recordings of this work. On the second CD he recorded the third violin concerto by Camille Saint-Saëns with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra under Rico Saccani. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1970, Korfker was first a student of the Dutch violin teacher Davina van Wely. After graduating as Performing Artist at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam he joined the class of the famous Russian violin teacher Zakhar Bron. Korfker graduated the Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He took part in master classes with some of the great names of the old school. These include Igor Oistrakh, Herman Krebbers, Berl Senofsky, Ruggiero Ricci and Jaap Schröder. Later Shmuel Ashkenasi was an important influence. Korfker's teaching career commenced at the Hochschule für Musik Köln where he began assisting Professor Zakhar Bron in 1999. The collaboration proved so successful that in the same year Korfker was officially appointed as Zakhar Bron's teaching assistant. In 2005 Korfker was offered positions at two of the world's leading music institutions, he was appointed professor at he Royal College of Music in London and at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey. It was then that his schedule of teaching in the UK became too busy to carry on his work with Zakhar Bron in Cologne. Korfker ended his association with the Yehudi Menuhin School in the Summer of 2008 after a fruitful and inspiring collaboration. In January 2009 he moved to London in order to fully take part in the city's rich cultural life. From the Summer of 2009 he will also be working at the Purcell School. Thanks to these teaching positions, international invitations and private teaching in Europe, Korfker has worked with students from all over the world. He has given master classes at the Wiener Meisterkurse in the Vienna Conservatory (2000-2005), the DePaul University and the Stradivari Society in Chicago, the Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide Conservatories, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, in Montepulciano, Italy and at the International String Summer School in Repton, UK. In the Summers of 2005 and 2006 he organized his own master classes at the Landesmusikakademie Hessen, Germany, to which he invited several specialists who engaged with students in Yoga, Alexander Technique and art lectures. In January 2009 Korfker was the international violin tutor at the Australian String Academy, held at the Sydney Conservatory, teaching 2 weeks of intensive master classes and workshops while participating with colleagues like Nobukko Imai in the chamber music program. Korfker was invited as a jury member at the Novosibirsk International Competition for Young Violinists and at the Madeira Music International Violin Competition, and has sat on various international audition panels. CV dated August 2009.