Hailed by The Financial Times as “a truly pure talent” and called a “hero” by Le Monde, Adrien La Marca’s playing is characterised by depth of expression and technical mastery with a rich, deep, burnished quality to his sound. Gifted with a charismatic stage presence and the ability to create an immediate emotional connection with his audience, Adrien La Marca is considered one of today’s most compelling musicians.
As a soloist, La Marca has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (MDR), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hong-Kong Sinfonietta, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (artist in residence 2018-2019), Insula Orchestra, Les Siècles, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, and Orchestre de Metz, among others.
Named “New Soloist of the year 2014” by French Victoires de la Musique, La Marca has since performed in prestigious venues such as the Paris Philharmonie, London Barbican Center and Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, Auditorium du Louvre, Schloss Elmau, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, and Salle Gaveau, and at festivals such as the Festival de Pâques d’Aix-en-Provence, La Folle Journée, Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Jerusalem Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schubertiade Hohenems, and Schwarzenberg Festival.
Last season’s highlights included his debut at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with the Ensemble Resonanz and several concerts in international festivals with renowned musicians such as Sol Gabetta, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and Bertrand Chamayou at Solsberg Festival or Daniel Hope and Pinchas Zukerman at SHMF. This season, concerts are planned at the Philharmonie Paris, Théâtre des Champ-Elysées, Seine Musicale as well as the Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin and the Wigmore Hall London.
In 2016, his first album, “English Delight”, was released by the label La Dolce Volta to wide critical acclaim (in The Strad, Gramophone, Strings Magazine, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Diapason, and Classica); the album also received numerous awards, including the Diapason d’Or, FFFF Telerama, Coup de Coeur FNAC, France Musique, Radio Classique, and Gramophone Choice. His latest album, “HEROES” (La Dolce Vita 2020), features the Walton Viola Concerto with Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, a world premiere of Gwenaël Mario Grisi’s Viola Concerto expressly written for him, and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, the first time this work has been recorded for solo viola and orchestra. This recording has also been hailed by the press: “A moving lyrical interpretation that is nevertheless authentic, an absolute feat!” (Album of the Year 2020 – Le Figaro), “La Marca and his viola are a heroic pair!” (Diapason 5), “More than a prodigy, La Marca is a prince of the viola” (La Croix). His current album “Chanson Bohème” (La Dolce Volta, 10.2021), a post-lockdown tribute together with pianist Danae Dörken, has been highly acclaimed: it has received album of the week at RBB, five Diapasons d’Or, an appearance in the ZDF Morning Show, and outstanding press reviews (“La Marca has a wonderfully focused, yet never forced or strained tone, is able to articulate even in the softest pianissimo, and to avoid any mumbling or whispering. Sophisticated and pure elegance […] carried by that addictive dark-colored basic gentleness that belongs only to the sound of viola, if one can conjure up its magic as proudly and captivatingly as Adrien La Marca Süddeutsche Zeitung”).
Born in 1989 in Aix-en-Provence, France, to a family of musicians, Adrien La Marca began playing piano and viola at the age of 4. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at 16 and studied under Jean Sulem. He completed his studies in Leipzig with Tatjana Masurenko and later in Berlin with Tabea Zimmermann. During his studies, Adrien was regularly invited to take part in various music academies and had the opportunity to work with inspiring musicians such as Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Gidon Kremer, Andras Schiff, and Menahem Pressler. In 2016, La Marca was the first classical musician to receive the prestigious Fondation Lagardère grant. He is the winner of a Fondation Banque Populaire prize and supported by L’Or du Rhin and the Safran Foundation. La Marca has additionally won numerous prizes in international competitions, among them the William Primrose Competition, Lionel Tertis Competition, and Johannes Brahms Competition.
La Marca plays a Nicola Bergonzi viola made in Cremona.