DSM (c) Felix König
Despite his young age, Raphael Gisbertz is already establishing himself as one of the most important violinists of his generation. He has performed as a soloist on many major European stages, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, BOZAR in Brussels, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Cologne Philharmonic, and the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. His violin playing combines profound musicality with the astonishing virtuosity of the old masters and irresistible charisma. His exceptional musical intelligence and his sense for the content of music that transcends the superficial sound production already enable him to develop his own distinctive artistic approach.
His exceptionally beautiful and mature tone has already been broadcast by the most important German radio stations, such as his duo recital with the pianist Colin Pütz on SWR 2, the Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov recorded by him as soloist and concertmaster with the Landesjugendorchester NRW on WDR 3, his Bach performance recorded on Deutschlandfunk at the prizewinners' concert of the German Musical Instrument Fund, as well as the Mendelssohn Octet led by him on the occasion of the first federal prize in the national competition Jugend Musiziert on NDR.
Raphael Gisbertz has performed as a chamber musician and soloist at numerous renowned festivals, including the Verbier Festival Soloists Academy 2025, the Gstaadt String Academy as part of the Menuhin Festival, the Musica Mundi Course and Festival, the Langenberg Festival, the Arte Amanti Festival, the National Concert Hall International Mater Course in Dublin, the Valdres Sommersymfoni Festival, Norway and the Marschner Festival.
He attracted international attention by winning the First Grand Prize at the Concours Grumiaux in Brussels in 2023, the highest award at the prestigious Singapore Violin Festival in 2020, the First Great Award at the Vienna International Music Competition in 2020 and the Grand Prix at the Odin International Music Online Competition.
In addition, he was awarded first prize (unanimously with the highest score) in 2021 with the Ferdinand Trimborn Förderpreis NRW and second prize at the 2021 international Ysaye Competition. In 2020, he received a Golden Medal with High Distinction at the Manhattan International Music Competition and a first prize at the France Music Competition.
Raphael is a multiple prizewinner of the Jugend musiziert competition at the regional, state, and national levels, receiving the highest score a total of 15 times, most recently in 2025 with the Baroque Octet under his leadership as concertmaster. With the octet, he also won the Manfred Vetter Foundation Prize for the best ensemble in the national competition and the 2025 Jugendkammermusiförderpreis NRW.
Raphael Gisbertz is taught by Professor Leonid Kerbel at the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo, Belgium. His other distinguished teachers include Emir Imerov and Gwendolyn Masin.
He has also gained additional inspiration in numerous masterclasses, including those with Midori, Boris Kuschnir, Ilya Gringolts, Gerhard Schulz, Rainer Schmidt, Ingolf Turban, Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Christoph Poppen, and Shlomo Mintz.
Since 2020, he has been a scholarship holder of the German Foundation for Music Life and has been permitted to play their valuable Carlo Guiseppe Testore violin from 1700 since 2023. He also receives a sponsorship scholarship from the foundation.
Raphael Gisbertz is also a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy Liechtenstein and participates in the academy's intensive weeks and activities.