Julius Aria Sahbai

Julius Aria Sahbai, a native Swiss violinist, won the 1st prize at the 1st edition of the prestigious "Verão Clássico" International Music Competition 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal. In the same year he was also listed in the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia of Persian Musicians Directory.

His musical performance in the Swiss final of the 11th Eurovision Young Musicians competition in 2002, along with television and radio recordings (SRF, RSI, RTS, Rete Due), press interviews and CD recordings was decisive for his success in his younger years.

Previously, he won the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW) six times within four years.

He spent his childhood alternately in both St.Gallen and Las Vegas.

In his youth, he studied at several universities including Hochschule für Musik Basel, Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Hochschule für Musik Freiburg im Breisgau, International Menuhin Music Academy Blonay and Manhattan School of Music New York. He studied under professors such as Emanuel Borok, Mikhail Kopelman, Isaac Malkin, Valery Klimov, Nora Chastain, Boris Garlitsky, Igor Ozim, Alberto Lysy, Gyorgy Pauk and Boris Kuschnir.

He completed his extensive studies, earning four Master’s degrees, three CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) and one DAS (Diploma of Advanced Studies).

His activities as a soloist enabled him to perform at KKL Luzern, König Albert Theater Bad Elster, Centro Cultural de Belém, Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia and Tonhalle Zürich with renowned orchestras such as Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Neues Orchester Basel, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Zürcher Symphoniker, Chursächsische Philharmonie conducted by renowned conductors.

In 2018, his recording of the Heinzer Triple Concerto, performed as a soloist with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Pilsen, was broadcast on New York's WCNY Classic FM Syracuse.

In 2024, the national TV Moldova 1 reports on the world premiere of the work "River Dance" for violin and piano by composer Alex Kravtsov.
In the same year he was invited to play a concert for members of the Swiss government.

He plays on an Italian master violin by Nicolò Gagliano from Naples (1770).

Julius Aria Sahbai is regularly invited as a guest professor at renowned colleges and universities, where he lectures on topics such as specific playing techniques on the violin.

For his artistic activities, he received the cultural promotion prize both from the city and canton of St.Gallen.

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Photo credit and proofreading: Tatiana Davidenco