Icelandic violinist Judith Ingolfsson commands a distinguished position among the world's foremost young musicians. Her artistry is "effortless; her tone ravishingly beautiful, pure and adaptable; her sense of style unerring; and her expressiveness simple, direct and strongly felt (Strings)." Ms. Ingolfsson catapulted to international attention in 1998 when she won the gold medal at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Also a prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Paganini International Violin Competition, Ms. Ingolfsson was awarded the 2001 Chamber Music America / WQXR Record Award for her debut CD on Catalpa Classics. Of this recording, Fanfare Magazine noted "the violinist's unique poetry" and declared the performance "ardent and impassioned. This first collection deserves more thoughtful attention than that almost automatically accorded to the megahyped debuts of hot housed prodigies."
Ms. Ingolfsson made her solo orchestral debut in Germany at the age of eight, and has subsequently been a guest soloist with some of the finest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony and the National Symphony. Of her performance of the Barber Violin Concerto with the National Symphony, The Washington Post declared "she played with just the right mixture of easy grace, sonic luster and patrician refinement." In October 2000, Ms. Ingolfsson embarked on a critically acclaimed 15-city North American tour with the Iceland Symphony that included the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. In reaction to her performance of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto, the Los Angeles Times noted "...an individuality one cannot ignore." She has collaborated with many renowned conductors, including Leonard Slatkin, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Gerard Schwarz.
Ms. Ingolfsson's Carnegie Hall debut recital in April 2000 affirmed her ascendancy as a rising star. The New York Times declared "Judith Ingolfsson gave a technically assured and interpretively astute recital...and made her performance a journey to the soulful core. She gave a sizzling account, producing both fireworks and a singing tone." As a recitalist, she has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Grand Teton Music Festival, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Reykjavík Arts Festival in Iceland, Pro Arte Musicale in Puerto Rico, and Macau Cultural Center. Her festival appearances include the Cape and Islands Chamber Music Festival, the Khumo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, the Menuhin Festival in Switzerland, and the Orlando Festival in the Netherlands. Beginning in the 2002 - 2003 season, she has been invited to become a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two.
Ms. Ingolfsson made her first appearance on Icelandic television at the age of five. Since then her notable performances have been seen on PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, and NHK of Japan and broadcast on WQXR and WNYC of New York, WFYI of Indianapolis, WCLV of Cleveland. In 1999, National Public Radio's Performance Today named her Debut Artist of the Year praising her "remarkable intelligence, musicality, and sense of insight." Ms. Ingolfsson was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 15, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky, legendary first violinist of the Curtis String Quartet and pupil of Eugene Ysaye and Efrem Zimbalist. She received her Master's degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a pupil of David Cerone and continued her graduate studies at the same institution as a student of Donald Weilerstein, first violinist of the Cleveland String Quartet. Other esteemed violinists Ms. Ingolfsson has studied with include Guila Bustabo, Ruggiero Ricci and Nathan Milstein. Her chamber music coaches include Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle and Peter Salaff.