One of today's most sought-after violin teachers, Stephan Picard has been, since 1995, Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, after having taught at Music Superior Schools of Mainz, Munster and Aachen. Many of his students have had great success as music teachers, concert soloists, chamber music performers, orchestral musicians in major symphony orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and received prizes in important competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth and the Geneva International Music Competition.
Born in Barcelona to a Franco-German family, Stephan Picard grew up in Spain and in Germany. He studied with Saschko Gawriloff, Wolfgang Marschner, Rami Shevelov and Roman Nodel. He has won several competitions including the German Music Competition (Deutscher Musikwettbewerb), the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona and the Rodolfo Lipizer Competition in Italy. He has performed the violin concerto repertoire with several German orchestras, including the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, the Beethovenhalle Bonn Orchestra, the Bremen Philharmonic and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
His passion for chamber music is reflected in his international musical activities, as a member of renowned chamber music ensembles such as the Michelangelo String Quartet and the Mendelssohn Trio from Berlin. His discography also includes a CD of Wolfgang Rihm's "Chiffren" with Musikfabrik NRW.
Concerts and masterclasses have taken him regularly all over Europe, Korea, Japan, the USA, Canada, South America and New Zealand.
For many years, Stephan Picard was the concertmaster of the Orchestra of the Stadttheater Aachen opera house and later of the Munich Chamber Orchestra; he was also invited as concertmaster of the NDR Symphonie-Orchester and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Stephan Picard was head of the string department at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin for more than ten years and has been a jury member at various international competitions, such as the Max Rostal, Leopold Mozart and Seoul.
Stephan Picard plays a violin made by Petrus Guarnerius in Mantua in 1715.