Course 2: Florian Richter – Viola

Florian Richter, born in 1985 in Oschatz, received his first violin lessons at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig under Prof. Klaus Hertel. In 2000 he switched to the viola, and in 2001 he went to the Belvedere Castle Music High School in Weimar in the class of Prof. Erich Wolfgang Krüger.

From 2004 to 2014 the multiple national prize winner of “Jugend musiziert” studied at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar under Prof. Ditte Leser / Prof. Erich Krüger and completed his training with a concert examination.

He also received important musical inspiration from master classes with Prof. Alfred Lipka, Prof. Dietmar Hallmann, Prof. Hartmut Rohde, Prof. Martin Spangenberg and Prof. Norbert Brainin, among others. Florian Richter was a scholarship holder of the Hans and Eugenia Jütting Foundation, the German Foundation for Music Life and the Carl Flesch Academy. As a soloist, he has played under the direction of Johannes Klumpp, Helmuth Rilling, Stefan Solyom, Michael Sanderling and Marek Janowski, among others. In January 2020, Florian Richter made his solo debut with the “Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden” under the direction of Bruno Weil. From 2010 to 2012, Florian Richter was principal viola player of the Staatskapelle Weimar, and from 2012 to 2017 he held the same position with the Stuttgart State Orchestra. From 2010 to 2017, he was also involved in the viola department at the Belvedere Castle Music High School in Weimar. Florian Richter then accepted the call to the Nuremberg University of Music as Professor of Viola from 2017 to 2024. Florian Richter has been principal viola player of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden since August 2017. Since April 1, 2024, he has been the new professor for viola at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. The 39-year-old, who had already taught as a viola professor in Nuremberg since 2017, is following a call to his former alma mater.