Stephen Waarts’ innate and poetic musical voice has established him as a firm favourite with audiences. With an unusually broad and voracious appetite for repertoire, he has already performed more than 30 standard violin concertos as well as rarely performed works.
Stephen has performed with orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, Constantinos Carydis, Nicholas McGegan, Maxime Pascal, and Elim Chan.
After a busy summer, including returns to the Aspen Festival, Münchner Symphoniker, and Wigmore Hall, the 2022/23 season sees Waarts make his debuts with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Stephanie Childress, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Sir András Schiff, with further concerts planned with Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Cappella Aquileia at Opera Festival Heidenheim, and the Nash Ensemble amongst others.
A passionate recitalist and chamber musician, Waarts has appeared in recital at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Philharmonie Haarlem, Fundación Juan March, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Auditorium du Louvre, Vancouver Recital Society and Wigmore Hall, in addition to the Boulez Saal and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Waarts’ regular collaborators include Andras Schiff, Tabea Zimmermann, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Martin Helmchen, and Timothy Ridout. Waarts has appeared regularly at festivals including Aspen, Marlboro, Krzyżowa, Con Spirito Leipzig, Rheingau, and Jerusalem, with upcoming performances at Heidelberger Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schloss Elmau as part of Tabea Zimmermann’s residency, and SmorgasChord Festival in Oxford.
2022 saw the release of Waarts’ highly anticipated first concerto recording for Alpha Classics: Mozart Violin Concerto No.1 with the Camerata Schweiz under Howard Griffiths. Other releases include Hindemith Kammermusik No.4, as part of Ondine Classic’s Kammermusik cycle with Christoph Eschenbach, the Kronberg Academy Soloists and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in 2020. He released his debut recital album for Rubicon Classics in November 2018, with pianist Gabriele Carcano, featuring works by Schumann and Bartók.