Lisa Batiashvili To Join Salzburg's Mozarteum University Violin Faculty

October 24, 2025, 4:17 PM · Violinist Lisa Batiashvili will join the teaching faculty of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, beginning in the 2026/27 academic year, the university announced on Tuesday.

Violinist Lisa Batiashvili. Photo by Peter Adamik, courtesy Deutsche Grammophon.

"I am filled with great joy and gratitude at the prospect of taking up the professorship at the Mozarteum University from October 2026," Batiashvili said in a statement. "Salzburg stands not only for musical excellence, but also for a deep cultural tradition; it is a place that has always inspired me."

Founded in 1841 and named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Mozarteum University specializes in music, acting, directing, applied theatre, set design, open arts, and music, dance and art education. The university currently has a population of about 2,000 students and 550 teaching staff from all over the world. In addition to Bachelor's, Master's and teacher training degrees, the Mozarteum University offers a range of Pre-College, PhD and diploma programs.

Alongside Batiashvili's appointment to the faculty came two others: conductor Christian Thielemann and pianist Claudio Martínez Mehner.

Born in Soviet Georgia in 1979, Batiashvili started her violin studies with her father, then studied in Hamburg with Mark Lubotsky and in Munich with Ana Chumachenko. At age 16 she placed second in the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. She has spent the last decades touring as a concert violinist, playing with orchestras around the world and amassing an impressive discography, recording with Deutsche Grammophon. She has served as artist-in-residence for a number of prominent orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic (2014/15), the NDR Symphony Orchestra (2014-15) and the Berlin Philharmonic (2023–24). In 2021 she established the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation. Batiashvili currently lives in Berlin and plays a Joseph Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin from 1739 on loan from a private collector in Germany.

"After more than 25 years on stage, I now feel the desire to give something back – my knowledge, my experience, my love of music," Batiashvili said. "It is moving to meet this young, curious and lively generation, who are searching for their own path with open hearts and fresh minds. I look forward to accompanying them, challenging them, encouraging them – and learning new things myself in the process."

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Lisa Batiashvili To Join Salzburg's Mozarteum University Violin Faculty

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