Austria’s University of Music and Performing Arts Graz Appoints Violin Professor

Venezuelan-Italian violinist Giovanni Guzzo will assume the role as of October 2022

A soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician, Giovanni Guzzo was a protégé of renowned French virtuoso violinist and pedagogue Maurice Hasson. Guzzo also studied at Madrid’s Reina Sofía School Of Music with Zakhar Bron.

He has served as principal guest concertmaster of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata, as well as performed as a soloist in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, and Zurich’s Tonhalle. 

He is a regular guest at the Verbier Festival, the Schloss, Cappenberg, and Mecklenburg Vorpommern festivals in Germany, plus the BBC Proms and Lincoln Center. As a recording artist, his complete collection of the Ysaÿe violin solo sonatas has received praise from The Guardian and BBC Music. 

Guzzo began his music studies on the piano at age five and violin a year later with Emil Friedman and Luis Miguel Gonzales. At the age of 12, he became the youngest violinist to win first prize at Venezuela’s XII National Violin Competition “Juan Bautista Plaza,” and made his solo debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

At age 16, he received a scholarship to study at London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he later became one of the youngest violin professors in RAM’s 200-year history.

“I’m thrilled to announce my appointment as new violin professor in the Arts University of Graz…[I’m] honored to be joining such a distinguished faculty,” Guzzo wrote on Instagram.

His awards include Her Majesty the Queen’s commendation for Excellence, the HRH Princess Alice's Prize, Marlow Music Festival’s Gold medal, and London Symphony Orchestra’s PROMIS award. He most recently performed for Her Majesty the Queen on the famous “Viotti ex-Bruce” Stradivarius violin.

Guzzo plays on a 1759 Gennaro Gagliano violin, kindly on extended loan to him; and a T. Baker violin bow, awarded by J&A Beare.