Christine Busch was born in Stuttgart and grew up in the outskirts of the small town of Mössingen near Tübingen. She studied in Freiburg, Vienna, and Winterthur/Zurich, and during this time she performed with Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Concentus Musicus Wien, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
Since then, she has been successful as a soloist and chamber musician with both the "modern" and "baroque" violin in concerts worldwide. As a concertmaster, she plays with Philippe Herreweghe's Collegium Vocale Gent and in Stuttgart with Kay Johannsen. Christine Busch can be heard on countless chamber music CD recordings; she received particularly enthusiastic reviews for her CD "Sei Solo" with the sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach, which she recorded for Philippe Herreweghe's label "Phi." Julie Anne Sadie wrote in the "Critic's Choice" section of 'Grammophone':
"I’ve returned many times to listen to the German violinist Christine Busch’s enchanting set of Bach Sonatas and Partitas since reviewing it, and always I find something new to marvel at. Her exceptional musical intelligence and evident joy in sharing her insights illuminate every track. This is desert-island quality, for sure!"
Since 2000, Christine Busch has been teaching at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts. www.christine-busch.de
Christine Busch, born in Stuttgart, grew up on the outskirts of the small town of Mössingen near Tübingen. She studied violin in Freiburg, Vienna, and Winterthur, and already during this time performed with the Concentus Musicus Wien, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
Since then, she has appeared worldwide as both a soloist and chamber musician, performing equally successfully on both the “modern” violin and the “Baroque” violin. In recent years, she has worked regularly as concertmaster with Philippe Herreweghe and, in Stuttgart, with Kay Johannsen. In this role, as well as as a soloist, she has directed ensembles including the Kammerakademie Potsdam, Camerata Bern, the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Baroque Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Gent.
Christine Busch can be heard on numerous CD recordings. From 1995 to 2007, she recorded primarily with the Ensemble Explorations for harmonia mundi France, including works by Rossini, Boccherini, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn (Octet), and Dvořák, among others. In 2003, the Sonatas by J. S. Bach for violin and obbligato harpsichord (with Kay Johannsen) were released by Carus-Verlag Stuttgart.
Among her more recent recordings are Boccherini’s Stabat Mater with Dorothee Mields and the Salagon Quartet, as well as works by Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert with the same ensemble. The Salagon Quartet also contributed to a recording of Chausson’s concert work with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov, which received the German Record Critics’ Award. Further recordings include Schubert piano trios, Haydn string quartets, and violin concertos by Leclair and Telemann with Camerata Köln.
Her latest recordings include, on the cpo label, the Piano Quintet and String Quintet by the Austrian Expressionist composer Maria Bach, and, on the SWR Music label, Beethoven sonatas (E-flat major Op. 12 No. 3, G major Op. 30 No. 1, and Op. 96) recorded with Stefania Neonato on a historical fortepiano from the Stuttgart Museum of Musical Instruments in the “Fruchtkasten.”
Particularly outstanding is her widely acclaimed recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas (Sei Solo), released on Philippe Herreweghe’s Phi label and praised in numerous international media.
Julie Anne Sadie wrote in the “Critic’s Choice” section of Gramophone (December 2013):
“I’ve returned many times to listen to the German violinist Christine Busch’s enchanting set of Bach Sonatas and Partitas since reviewing it, and always I find something new to marvel at. Her exceptional musical intelligence and evident joy in sharing her insights illuminate every track. This is desert-island quality, for sure!”
In BBC Music Magazine, it was noted:
“Busch takes us on these extraordinary and demanding contrapuntal journeys with seeming effortlessness, bringing beautifully crafted shape to her phrasing as well as a pleasingly varied range. Seldom have I heard a violinist make such sense of music. A set to treasure, it has delighted my sensibilities from start to finish.”
Dagmar Munck wrote in a review for SWR:
“This is music of the spheres: in its purity, directness, immediacy, and heavenly lightness. The tones emerge from nothing, materialise, and drift away. And yet there is also so much earth, strength, calm, and confidence. I found it very difficult to part with this recording—it is one for a desert island. It teaches us to marvel at the magic of light and shadow.”
After completing her studies, Christine Busch taught as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and, in 2000, moved to the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts. Her new ensemble is called Incanto della Musica—“The Magic of Music.” From summer 2025, she will also join the Stuttgart-based Lotus Quartet.
