BIO

The 1st Grand Prix winner at the legendary Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition in Paris, the Ukrainian born violinist Diana Tishchenko was recently appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, recognizing her outstanding contribution to the arts. Following her nomination as an ECHO Rising Star, she performed in 20 of Europe’s leading concert halls including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Luxembourg Philharmonie, and Vienna Konzerthaus, among others.
Diana began her international performing career at a young age. She joined the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra as a violinist at 18 and, by 20, became its youngest concertmaster in history, collaborating with esteemed conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Franz Welser-Möst, Herbert Blomstedt, Antonio Pappano, and Daniele Gatti. This early leadership experience demonstrated her exceptional musical maturity and set the foundation for her future international career.
Diana has collaborated with renowned conductors including Iván Fischer, Lahav Shani, Andrew Litton, and Joshua Weilerstein, and performed with prestigious ensembles such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Berlin Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. She has appeared at major festivals such as the Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, and the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades.
Her violin studies began with her aunt in Simferopol before continuing at Kyiv’s Specialized Music School for Gifted Children. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees under Ulf Wallin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, where she later served as his assistant, and pursued further solo studies with Boris Kuschnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. She has also been strongly influenced by Gidon Kremer and pianists Sir András Schiff, Rita Wagner, and Ferenc Rados.
Her debut album, Strangers in PARadISe (Warner Classics, 2019) recorded with pianist Zoltán Fejérvári, received wide critical acclaim. BBC Music Magazine awarded it five stars, Gramophone praised her “genuinely distinctive, individual voice” and “beauty of tone, polish, and range of colours,” while Le Figaro called it “an album that confirms the astonishing maturity of the artist.”

Diana is deeply committed to social and cultural initiatives. She has performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the European Union Youth Orchestra for the World Human Forum’s environmental initiative The Uncertain Four Seasons, which was streamed live on ARTE and named “Best Filmed Concert of 2022” at the Prague Film Festival. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, she has devoted herself to numerous charity concerts across Europe, including performances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Nice, Philharmonie Berlin, and the G7 Summit in Bonn.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include her return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, performances with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and an appearance at the Konzerthaus Berlin with Iván Fischer, as well as leading festival performances including the West Cork Chamber Music Festival.
Diana is currently based in Berlin and holds both Ukrainian and German citizenship, carrying her heritage with her wherever she performs.