Kolja Blacher, born in 1963 in Berlin, Germany, is a German violinist. At age 15, he won the Jugend musiziert competition and subsequently studied with Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard in New York City before continuing his studies with Sándor Végh. Blacher served as first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado from 1993 to 1999 and later performed with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. He has collaborated with notable orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and worked alongside conductors including Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, and Mariss Jansons. Blacher's discography includes albums like Bach's Violin Concertos (1999) and Shostakovich and Weinberg's Violin Sonatas (2007), showcasing his extensive repertoire in chamber music and classical symphonic genres.
