Biography
The Violinist
Born in 2000 in Mersin, Turkey, into a Georgian musical family, Sofiko Tchumburidze began studying the violin at the age of six under the guidance of her mother, Lily Tchumburidze, at the Mersin University State Conservatory. She started her undergraduate studies in 2018 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Prof. Lena Neudauer and completed her degree under Prof. Julia Fischer. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s degree with Prof. Julia Fischer, while also studying Baroque violin under Prof. Mary Utiger.
The violinist has participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Lukas David, Nora Chastain, Rudens Turku, Volker Jacobsen, Sergey Kravchenko, Dora Schwarzberg, Pierre Amoyal, Mayumi Hirasaki, Cihat Aşkın, Özcan Ulucan, and Dimitri Sitkovetsky. Chamber music holds a prominent place in her artistic life. As a chamber musician, she has performed at prestigious events such as the Istanbul Boğaziçi Albert Long Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Days of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and the Schloss Elmau Chamber Music Festival, with some performances recorded by Bayerischer Rundfunk radio station.
Sofiko Tchumburidze
In addition to her chamber music work, Tchumburidze also appeared on stage as a soloist with orchestras such as the Presidental Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Türkiye, Bursa Government Symphony Orchestra, Eskişehir Symphony Orchestra, Antalya Symphony Orchestra. She has also participated in national and international festivals, including the Youth Classics Festival, Semmering International Summer Festival, Istanbul Young Classical Musicians Festival, Seefeld Starnberger Music Days, Salzburg Festival, Tsinandali Festival, and Insel Festival, in Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, and Germany. recorded a CD with the Mozarteum Orchestra under the direction of Howard Griffiths for Alpha Classics and has performed concerts with Julia Fischer in Grünwald. She shared the stage with Maxim Vengerov at a concert organized by ÇEV Sanat at Istanbul’s Zorlu PSM. Since 2022, she has been performing with the renowned West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, appearing in cities such as Cologne, Ljubljana, Salzburg, Berlin, and Lucerne. Additionally, she performed at the Schloss Elmau Georgian Festival alongside world-famous mandolinist Avi Avital and the celebrated Georgian ensemble, the Rustavi Ensemble.
Sofiko has won numerous awards from an early age. She earned first prize at the Gülden Turalı National Young Musicians Violin Competition and was named “Student of the Year” by the Rudens Turku Foundation through audience choice, receiving a special award as well. She won first prize at the Ana Chumachenco Competition in Germany, first prize at the 3rd National Chamber Music Competition in Turkey with her piano trio. Also She was the winner of the first prize given in the name of Meriç Soylu at the concert series organized in İstanbul “İş Sanat Parlayan Yıldızlar” which is one of the important organizations for young artists.
A scholarship recipient of the ÇEV Sanat (Contemporary Education Foundation), Sofiko Tchumburidze continues her musical career playing a highly valuable 1890 Lorenzo Ventapane violin, awarded to her as a result of winning the 2024 Musikinstrumentenfonds competition, organized by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.