Press
“Arnaud Sussmann…is creating the buzz of a star on the ascent.”
“Sussmann’s Mozart was a miracle in which Carl St. Clair and the Pacific Symphony participated in every way. When Sussmann entered with his rich deep tone, he acknowledged the orchestra, musically, by making the transition seamlessly smooth as if he had been playing along with the violins all the while. [They] interacted in a charming, immaculately smooth performance teased out with historically-informed ornaments and trills and turns. It made Mozart more human, more dimensional, more informal, and allowed the audience to sit back and revel in the sounds made by a violinist who has an innate ability to hit the acoustic sweet spot of whatever hall he’s playing in. Sussmann was glorious.”
“The soloist [is] well into the beginnings of what will surely be [a] prestigious career. Sussmann has performed with orchestras across the globe, and is presenting a season of at least six different concertos and a variety of recital programs. The Tchaikovsky concerto is the quintessential Romantic violin concerto. Sussmann [showed] precise command no matter what the difficulties were, and subtle phrasing … to the lyrical passages, the soul of the work.”
“We are impressed with the concentration shown by the young violin soloist, Arnaud Sussmann. In the first movement the thoughtful playing of the main theme and the wonderful lyricism of the second are intertwined into a convincing whole. The adventurous pianissimo of the opening of the slow movement is played with a gorgeous tone quality and later the soaring high notes elicit gooseflesh. The audience flew to their feet because the playing by Sussmann and the orchestra is of a very high order.”
“Soloist Sussmann had to wait some 100 measures before his dazzling entrance in the opening allegro of the Violin Concerto, but from then on his resonant bowing soared and sang until a long cadenza of trembling arpeggios and glissandos brought the movement to a forceful close…. The standing ovation for the young virtuoso, conductor and orchestra was indeed well-deserved.”
“Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of what you’ll hear on vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener. His clear tone [is] a thing of awe-inspiring beauty, his phrasing spellbinding.”
“Arnaud Sussmann’s … recording of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata at the Menlo Park festival remains a touchstone for greatness.”
“Arnaud Sussmann played his rhythmic part with great expression…Sussmann‟s intonation was spot-on, even in the double-stopped passages on the unusually-tuned lower-strings for the second movement.”
“The stature of a handsome young gentleman, the allure and assurance of an artist …He displayed the confidence, beauty of sound and elegance of the great violinists.”
“The audience loved his stirring performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto, which ended the evening on a high note of sheer lyrical beauty.”
“The prodigious young violinist Arnaud Sussmann and oboist Brent Ross were nimble and eloquent soloists in the Bach Double Concerto.”
“A riveting performance of the Kreutzer Sonata.”
“Top honors go to Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata played by Arnaud Sussmann and Wu Han whose fierce and ardent performance will demolish equally the classical-music-innocent and those who already know better.”
Arnaud Sussmann, violinist
Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of what you'll hear on vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener. His clear tone [is] a thing of awe-inspiring beauty, his phrasing spellbinding.”
A thrilling young musician capturing the attention of classical critics and audiences around the world, Sussmann has appeared with major orchestras including the American Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony. Further solo appearances in recent seasons included a tour of Israel and concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Dresden Music Festival in Germany and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Sussmann has been presented in recital at notable national series in Boston, Denver, New Orleans, Omaha, and Palm Beach, as well as at the Tel Aviv at the Museum of Art and at the Louvre Museum in Paris. He has also given concerts at the OK Mozart, Chamber Music Northwest and Moritzburg festivals and appears regularly at the Beare’s Premiere, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Seattle Chamber Music, Moab Music, and Saratoga Springs Chamber Music festivals.
Recent concerto appearances include performances with Maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra at the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, the Alabama Symphony, Albany Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and Santa Rosa Symphony. Over the past two seasons, chamber music performances included tours with Music@Menlo to Florence, Italy and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to Colombia’s Teatro Mayor, Korea’s LG Arts Center, Shanghai’s Oriental Center, and Hong Kong’s Music Academy.
Sussmann has performed with many of today’s leading artists including Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, Gary Hoffman, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Wu Han, David Finckel, Jan Vogler, and members of the Emerson String Quartet. He has worked with conductors such as Cristian Macelaru, Gemma New, Marcelo Lehninger, Rune Bergmann, and Leon Botstein. A dedicated chamber musician, he has been a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006 and has regularly appeared with them in New York and on tour, including a recent concert at London’s Wigmore Hall.
A frequent recording artist, Sussmann has released albums on Deutsche Grammophon’s DG Concert Series, Naxos, Albany Records and CMS Studio Recordings labels. His solo debut disc, featuring three Brahms Violin Sonatas with pianist Orion Weiss, was released in December 2014 on the Telos Music Label, and his most recent feature recording featuring works by Beethoven, Bloch, Fauré, and Mendelssohn was released in 2019 on the Music@Menlo LIVE label. He has been featured on multiple PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts alongside Itzhak Perlman and the Perlman Music Program and with musicians of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Born in Strasbourg, France and based now in New York City, Sussmann trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Juilliard School with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman. Winner of several international competitions, including the Andrea Postacchini of Italy and Vatelot/Rampal of France, he was named a Starling Fellow in 2006, an honor which allowed him to be Mr. Perlman’s teaching assistant for two years. Sussmann currently teaches at Stony Brook University on Long Island and was recently named Co-Artistic Director of Music@Menlo’s International Music Program and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach.
Schedule
Upcoming Concerts:
Past Concerts: