Josef Rissin was born in Riga, studied violin with Boris Belenkij at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and is considered by many critics to be one of the world’s leading violinists. Whilst still a student he won prizes at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels and the Paganini Competition in Genoa.
His concert engagements took him to the foremost musical cities of the former Soviet Union and the West. His status as one of the leading violinists of the Russian school is exemplified by his numerous concerts, radio and TV broadcasts and CD recordings, as well as his participation at various celebrated music festivals, which led to superlative reviews and ‘admiration for his technical perfection’. In his book ‘Große Geiger unserer Zeit’ J. Hartnach describes Rissin as an artist ‘whose qualities put him without a doubt in the premier league of violinists’ and singles him out for his ‘exemplary technical perfection and his profound artistry.’ The music press praises Rissin’s CD with solo works by H, Y and P as a must for all violinists, adding that listeners should be aware of the risk of developing an inferiority complex.
Josef Rissin has not only made his name with his interpretations of contemporary Russian classical music, but also for the discovery of GU, previously unknown in the West, whose world premiere recording he made with the pianist ORM. Rissin teaches as professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe and is Professor Emeritus at the Zurich Hochschule der Künste. Rissin’s most famous pupils include Serge Khachatryan, Daniel Lozakovich, Prof. Maria-Elisabeth Lott, Prof. Koh Gabriel Kameda, Prof. Albrecht Laurent Breuninger, Prof. Linus Roth etc.