Hailed by critics as an “unrivaled violinist,” “of fiery temperament”, Virgil Boutellis-Taft regularly performs throughout Europe and the United States.
He has played in halls such as Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau, Theatre des Champs-Elyssées, Banaroya Hall, Tel Aviv Opera House, Wigmore Hall… and with orchestras such as the Dayton Philharmonic, the Springfield Symphony, the Israel Chamber Orchestra Emeritus, the Mid Atlantic Symphony, the Sinfonia Varsovia. He has also performed at major international festivals including Bowdoin (USA), Eilat and the Red Sea Valery Gergiev (Israel) Valdres (Norway), Prussia Cove (England), Les Violons de Légende, Les Moments Musicaux de la Baule, the Roque Anthéron, the Folle Journée (France).
Virgil’s chamber music partners include the harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, the pianists Guillaume Vincent, Vanessa Wagner and Abdel Rahman El Bacha, the guitarist Thibaut Garcia, the cellists Anne Gastinel and Camille Thomas…
Works have been dedicated to him by Paul Cantelon, Tara Kamangar, Drew Hemenger, and since 2015, Virgil forms the Duo La Rose and Reseda with the violinist Irene Duval.
In 2016, Virgil recorded for Evidence Classics/Harmonia Mundi the album Entre Orient & Occidentthat was acclaimed by the critics and praised for its “incandescent intensity”.
As First Prize of the Paris Conservatory at age 16 and winner of the Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation, Virgil decided to pursue his musical career abroad, invited by the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and at the Royal College of Music in London where he obtained his Masters and his Artist Diploma. He then spent two years in Israel, invited by Tel Aviv University for a postdoc, as part of its International Music Program. He has worked with pedagogues such as Michèle Auclair, Zakhar Bron, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Schlomo Mintz, Igor Oistrakh, Haim Taub, Hagai Shaham, Almita Vamos…
In 2010 he won the first prize of the ISA International Competition in Austria.
In 2012, he is named winner of the Fondation Banque Populaire prize.
Parallel to the study of the violin, Virgil began piano studies at 7, with pianist Fanny Raust, classmate and chamber music partner of Ginette Neveu.
Virgil plays the Domenico Montagnana “ex Régis Pasquier” Venice 1742, on generous loan from an anonymous benefactor.
US TOUR DATES
12/14 @ Hotel des Artistes – New York, NY
12/16 @ Philips Collection – Washington, DC
12/18 @ Kennedy Center – Washington, DC
