Copenhagen Philharmonic Names New Concertmaster

22-year-old German violinist Roberta Verna will assume the position

A student of Daniel Gaede at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, Verna currently studies with Herwig Zack at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. She has performed in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and Verbier Festival Orchestra in addition to serving as a concertmaster of the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra — where she worked with renowned conductors Daniel Harding and Mariss Jansons.

In 2017, Verna won the city of Würzburg’s Culture Prize.

“I am incredibly happy and deeply honored to have won the audition [for concertmaster of the Copenhagen Philharmonic], especially at this moment of my life,” Verna wrote in an email to The Violin Channel. “I am very much looking forward to moving to the beautiful city of Copenhagen, and I just can’t wait to start as a member of Copenhagen Phil, working alongside such wonderful and kind people.”

Verna told The Violin Channel that she discovered her love of Denmark through trips supported by the Scandinavian Cello School, whose founder encouraged her to apply for the concertmaster position. She added that due to her young age and “recent setbacks,” she went into the audition “without big expectations” — and won. 

“Taking such a position requires a lot of interaction and taking responsibility for many people,” Verna said. “Trying to serve the orchestra as well as guiding it when needed, is a task which I’ve always wished for. Being able now to not only make music together on the highest level, but also learning from the other experienced musicians and working with artists of all kind, is the most exciting and fulfilling challenge of my musical life so far.”

Verna plays a 1703 Stradivari, provided to her by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben through the German Musical Instrument Fund’s competition.