Michael Germer’s innate musicianship and warm, sensual violin tone have brought him success in his native Scandinavia and in Israel.
Michael was born in Copenhagen in 2002. Eleven years later he won the Talent Prize at the Jacob Gade Competition and soon thereafter he enrolled in the violin class of Serguei Azizian at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. By 2015 he had won the Øresund Soloist prize and the Gold Medal at the Berlingske Music Competition.
At the age of 16, Michael began his studies with Prof. Dora Schwarzberg at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. Over the course of 2018, he was awarded First Prize and the Grand Prix at the Grumiaux International Violin Competition, First Prize at the Postacchini International Violin Competition and Special Prize at Kreisler International Violin Competition, during which he performed at the famous Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2019, Michael was the youngest semi-finalist at the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Odense, which was broadcast live around the world.
As a concerto soloist, Michael has appeared with the the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Webern Symphony Orchestra, the Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra, the Århus Symphony Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra and the University of Geneva Symphony Orchestra and has worked with conductors such as Lahav Shani, Felix Mildenberger, Marc Soustrot and Vladimir Kiradjiev.
Apart from his activities as a soloist, Michael is an active recitalist and chamber musician. Festival appearances have taken him to Poland, Italy, Ukraine, Austria, Norway, Sweden where he has collaborated with artists such Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Marianna Shirinyan, Levon Chillingirian, members of the Danish String Quartet and Trio Con Brio Copenhagen. He has also participated in master-classes with Leonidas Kavakos, Maxim Vengerov, Josef Spacek, Nicola Benedetti, Henning Kraggerud and Maxim Rysanov.
His performances have been broadcast live on Austria’s state broadcaster ORF, on Denmark’s state broadcaster DR and on Medici TV. In August 2019, Michael received the Jacob Gade Foundation’s grant at an awards ceremony in the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen. He signed to Nordic Artists Management’s Young Artist Roster the same year.
In 2020 he won 2nd Prize as well as “Prize for Best Interpretation of Paganini” at the International Khachaturian Competition and then went on to win 1. Prize as well as the “Orchestra Prize” at the Danish String Competition and shortly after he received the “Carl Nielsen Grant”.
Michael is an Artist Diploma student of Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and performs on a 1765 J. B. Guadagnini, generously on loan by the Augustinus Foundation.