Gyula Stuller, Violine

„I joined the COE after having heard the orchestra in Budapest in 1984. At that time I was still a student at the Franz Liszt Academy and had lessons all morning on the day of the concert. When I arrived home in the early afternoon, my mother was very excited, because she had a phone call from a Hungarian Lady Mrs. Failoni, wife of the famous Conductor Sergio Failoni, and close friend of Maestro Claudio Abbado. I was asked to go back immediately to the Academy to be auditioned by the Maestro. This was a surprise to me, I was not at all thinking that it would be possible for me to play in the orchestra. Claudio greeted me very warmly and told me that they would have the general rehearsal at 4 pm and that I should listen first. Brahms String Quintet arranged for the orchestra, Rossini… a great moment! After the rehearsal, I met Claudio again, but he had to go back to the hotel, so he said, my musicians will listen to you now. Luckily I had several pieces in my repertory that I could play immediately, and after 5 minutes of discussion, I was accepted into COE.

That was the beginning of a wonderful three years of tours and concerts in Europe. My first project with the COE was the Opera by Rossini „Il Viaggio a Reims“ conducted by Claudio Abbado in Pesaro. Unfortunately with my Hungarian passport at that time I needed Visas for every country in Europe, so I spent as much time in different Embassies as I spent traveling. Once I was taken by the Italian police back on the same plane from Italy to Paris because my visa expired one day before I arrived in Italy. I missed two concerts in Naples with Lorin Maazel…
The best meal that I ever had in Italy was in Milano when Claudio invited the whole orchestra after a concert conducted by Salvatore Accardo. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the restaurant, but I was told that it was Claudio’s favorite place in Milano.“

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Budapest in 1962 into a family of musicians, Gyula studied violin in Budapest from the age of six with professor Dr. Ilona Hencz and later studied at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in the class of Professor Ferenc Halász.

After his first great success, in the Joseph Szigeti International Violin Competition in 1979, he was appointed as a soloist of the Hungarian music agency Filharmonia. Under their guidance, he traveled all over Europe as a young artist and performed as a soloist at many of Europe’s major cities including Vienna, Berlin, Sofia, Prague, and Moscow.
In 1981 he received a two-year scholarship awarded by British Petroleum in London, enabling him to study at the famous Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the world-renowned violinist, Professor Gyorgy Pauk. After his studies in London, Gyula met Maestro Claudio Abbado in Budapest on the day of a COE concert at the Franz Liszt Academy in 1984 and in September he joined the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for three years. Gyula’s first project with ECO was the Opera by Rossini „Il Viaggio a Reims“ conducted by Claudio Abbado in Pesaro. For Three years Gyula had participated in great concerts with Maestro Claudio Abbado, Sir Georg Solti, Colin Davis, Adam Fischer, and many others.

During these years Gyula became a laureate at the Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition in Gorizia, Italy in 1985 and continued to take part in different Masterclasses with many great violinists including Nathan Milstein, Sándor Végh, Lóránt Fenyves, and Tibor Varga. Professor Varga later encouraged him to participate in the 20th International Tibor Varga Violin Competition in Sion in 1986 where he was awarded the first prize. In the following year, he decided to stay in Sion to work for three years as Professor Varga’s assistant and as the Concertmaster of the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra in Detmold Germany.
In 1989 Gyula was appointed Concertmaster of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, a position that he held until 2022.
His international acclaim is not just limited to his role as the Concertmaster of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Gyula Stuller’s performances have captivated audiences worldwide, collaborating with luminaries such as Christian Zacharias, Radu Lupu, Maria Joao Pires, Imre Rohmann, Dénes Várjon, Antonio Meneses, Ricardo Castro, Miklós Perényi, Sine Nomine String quartet. His artistry extends to working with esteemed conductors like Jesus Lopez Cobos, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Christian Zacharias, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Joshua Weilerstein among others.

Beyond the stage, Gyula Stuller is a respected educator, sharing his expertise at prestigious institutions and masterclass courses globally. Between 1997 and 2003, he held the position of Professor of Violin at the Fribourg Conservatory. In 2003 Gyula was the successor of Professor Tibor Varga in Sion and since 2011 he has been Professor at the Music University in Lausanne and Sion Switzerland.
Gyula has a musical family, his wife Yukari Shimanuki viola player, daughter Júlia Stuller cellist, and his son Barnabás Stuller violinist, form together the Stuller Stringquartett. Their first CD was released in 2022.
Gyula Stuller is the Artistic Director of the Automne Musical d’Ollon, a chamber music festival in Switzerland.