About

Imaginative and eloquent, the Turkish-German violinist Önder Baloglu is known for his breathtaking artistry and adventurous approach to programming. With a technique that blends virtuosity and entrancing musical finesse, Önder presents an innovative musical universe. He is a versatile violinist in search of the essences of music: as a soloist, a chamber musician, a concertmaster, an artistic director, a professor and as a musical director. He has been musically active in most of the European countries and in USA, Canada, China, India, South Korea, Peru, Argentina and Brasil.

As a soloist he performed with most of the Turkish orchestras as well as with German orchestras such as the Koblenz Rheinische State Philharmonic, the Bochum Symphonic, the Dortmund Philharmonic, the Aachen Symphonic, the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Ensemble Folkwang Modern and the KlangVerwaltung Orchestra Munich with conductors like Rheinhard Goebel, Florian Helgath, Otis Klöber, Oliver Leo Schmidt, Cemi’i Can Deliorman.

Önder moved his passion for chamber music into a different aspect by conducting orchestras from concertmaster position such as the Duisburg Philharmonic, the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, the Bilkent Symphonic of Ankara and his own „Les essences“, an international chamber orchestra which is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Highlights of his play & conduct performances in 2021/2022 season include the Christmas Oratorio by J.S.Bach with the renowned Chorwerk Ruhr and Les essences in several churches of Essen, touring with his Les essences in Germany and Turkey regarding his "Turkish-Battle" program with works from the baroque and classical periods, including the "Turkish" violin concerto by W.A.Mozart and the E minor Violin Concerto by F.Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Mozart’s 40th Symphony with the Yasar Symphony Orchestra in Izmir.

A keen chamber musician, Önder’s esteemed artistic partners include Anja Lechner, Rebekka Hartmann, Boris Bloch, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Nino Gvetadze, Anastasia Kobekina, Klaus Mäkelä, Elina Vähälä, Alissa Margulis, Harriet Krijgh, Marc Bouchkov and Fazıl Say at venues and organisations such as the Philharmonie Essen, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Gasteig and Herkulessaal in Munich, Vienna Musikverein, Konzerthaus Berlin, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Musiquem Lleida International Music Festival in Spain, Festival "NOW!" in Essen, Brühler Schlosskonzerte, Klasik Keyifler International Music Festival in Cappadocia, Colmar Fête le Printemps in France, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland and his own series „Les essences“ where he presents eccentric and unusual programs and concepts all over in Essen.

Between 2015-2017 he designed an unusual concert series as an artistic director: „Klassisch.Unterirdisch. – the Underground-Festival of Classic“ in Katakomben-Theater Essen. 2017 he became the co-artistic director of the Klasik Keyifler Music Festival in Cappadocia. Furthermore he is the co-founder of the society “Erato - Akademie für Musik und Sprache Rhein-Ruhr e.V” and the Gedik Philharmonic Orchestra in Istanbul.

Önder is an enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music and a gifted improviser and regularly engages with people across the artistic spectrum. Uninhibited by conventional genre boundaries and noted for his innovative programming he designed during the first lockdown in 2020 his Unvoiced Diaries project and commissioned, together with the Gedik Foundation in Istanbul, 24 Turkish composers living all over the world to compose one-minute-long miniatures for solo violin to be performed especially on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. In 2021, Unvoiced Diaries were released on Spotify and Apple Music.

Önder became a concertmaster of the Duisburger Philharmonic and the German Rhine Opera Düsseldorf- Duisburg at the age of 24 and continued his duties until 2022. Since 2021 he is the concertmaster of Aziz Shokhakimov‘s Tekfen Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Önder started his violin lessons with Ferhang Huseynov and studied at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany with Nana Jashvili, Pieter Daniel and Andreas Reiner, as well as having had the chance to work closely with renowned musicians such as Vadim Gluzman, Gordan Nikolic, Ivry Gitlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Rheinhard Goebel, Enoch zu Guttenberg.

Önder teaches at the Royal Conservatory of the Netherlands in The Hague and at the Folkwang University of Arts. He plays a 1779 Antonio Gragnani violin and a 1880 James Tubbs bow.

Violinist Önder Baloglu is a promising talent, his clear Glissandi, the accurateness of his higher notes are moving. If there was the term ‘belcanto’ for the violin, Baloglu had earn it… (Augsburger Allgemeine)