Sheet music by Kolja Lessing

Kolja Lessing is a German violinist, pianist, composer and university teacher. His mother taught him the basic musical education.

From 1978 he attended Hansheinz Schneeberger’s master class for violin in Basel. He studied piano with Peter Efler in Basel from 1979. He passed his concert exams in 1982 and 1983. He also received formative impulses from his collaborations with Berthold Goldschmidt, Ignace Strasfogel and Zoltán Székely. As professor for violin he taught from 1989 to 1993 at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, from 1993 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig and followed an appointment at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart in 2000. From 1998 to 2015 he was a regular guest lecturer at the Banff Centre. In 2009 he was Artist in Residence at the Villa Esche in Chemnitz. Since 2011 he has collaborated with the Israeli writer Elazar Benyoetz.

Lessing gives concerts worldwide as a violinist and pianist, he also gives lectures on musicology and teaches master classes at European and Canadian universities.