Irene Wilhelmi
Irene Wilhelmi
Violin
Irene Wilhelmi was born in Berlin and received her first violin lessons from Jascha Sußmann and Hans Mahlke. After graduating from high school, she studied under Helmut Heller, the former concertmaster of the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Hamburg. She also participated in master classes with Henryk Szeryng and Leonid Kogan.
She made her debut with the Violin Concerto in A minor by Henri Vieuxtemps. Soon after, she performed as a soloist with orchestras in the Federal Republic of Germany, the GDR, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Austria, England, and Sweden. Her repertoire includes Bach's violin concertos and classical-romantic literature (such as Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky), as well as rarely performed works such as Richard Strauss' early work, Béla Bartók's Concerto No. 1, Paul Hindemith's 1939 concerto, and Siegfried Matthus' Violin Concerto.
A fascinating chapter in her professional career was the guest professorship at the National Institute of the Arts Taipei in Taiwan, where she taught for two semesters. This professorship was associated with jury work to promote young talent in Taiwan and chamber music concerts in various cities in Taiwan, as well as in Hong Kong and Manila.
In Berlin, Irene Wilhelmi teaches at the University of the Arts. Nowadays, she mainly performs in duos with partners on the piano. Her repertoire encompasses various stylistic periods, including contemporary compositions.