Biography
Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding young musicians of his generation. Combining remarkable technical brilliance with exceptional musical maturity, he has rapidly established an international reputation through performances distinguished by their elegance, intelligence and expressive depth.
Born in Vienna in 2007, Baumgartner attracted worldwide attention after winning the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition in 2024, making his acclaimed debut with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Eivind Aadland. His success followed a series of prestigious international awards, including First Prize at the International Mozart Competition Zhuhai, the Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition, the Osaka International Music Competition, and the Discovery Award at the International Classical Music Awards.
He made his orchestral debut at the age of fifteen with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras including the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, the Berlin Baroque Soloists, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Munich Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Philharmonic.
Baumgartner was selected to perform and record the world premiere of a recently rediscovered work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, released by Deutsche Grammophon, one of the most significant classical recording projects of 2024. He is also a member of the Stretton Trio, alongside cellist Alexander Warenberg and pianist Nikola Meeuwsen, with whom he regularly performs throughout Europe.
A scholarship holder of the Liechtenstein Music Academy and a participant in the Stretton Excellence Mentoring Programme, where he studies under Vilde Frang, Baumgartner has also received artistic guidance from Dora Schwarzberg, Ingolf Turban, Leonidas Kavakos and Ana Chumachenco.
He performs on the magnificent Antonio Stradivari “ex Petherick” violin of 1683, generously placed at his disposal by the Stretton Society.