Michael Guttman, violin
Musical Director of the Toronto Summer Chamber Music Festival

"The Chagall of violinists", was how the Jerusalem post described Michael Guttman, who was also praised by the New York Times for his "incredible wealth of tone colors" and his sound of "melting beauty" (Allan Kozin).

The internationally acclaimed, Belgium born violinist, was the youngest ever to be admitted into the Brussels Royal Conservatory at the age of ten. Encouraged by the late Isaac Stern to study at the Juilliard school in New York with Dorothy Delay, Michael Guttman then embarked into a solo career that took him across 4 continents.

His recording of the Four seasons "not by Vivaldi" with the Royal philharmonic orchestra was chosen and broadcast by the BBC to 101 countries worldwide. Other recordings with the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras included a tribute to three generations of Israeli composers , with the late David Shallon conducting, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel in 1998.

Chamber music playing and teaching always played a major role in Michael Guttman's life, first as the son of Simone Guttman, a respected pianist-partner of many great artists such as Jean-Pierre Rampal, Christian Ferras, or Andre Navarra, and then as the leader of Belgium's foremost string quartet, the "ARRIAGA", regularly invited by the Flanders Festival and many major festivals across Europe.

The "Arriaga Festival", under the musical direction of Michael Guttman, in the medieval city of Bruges, was for ten years a highlight of Belgium's musical agenda and resulted in many world premiere performances being recorded by the belgian radio and aired throughout Europe.

As Founder of the string orchestra "Strings and ebony" dedicated to XXth century music, Michael Guttman "instantly filled a void in Belgium's musical horizon" as did his noted "university lunch concerts" attended by an enthusiastic audience of students in Brussels.

As Associate Music director, with the legendary Lukas Foss, of the Music Festival of the Hamptons, Michael Guttman has brought his exciting programming and playing to the New York area that resulted in a tripling of the festival's attendance over a 4-year period. As the music director and conductor of the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, in residence at the Hamptons festival, Michael Guttman has worked with such artists as, James Galway, Richard Stolzman, Peter Serkin, Carol Wincenc, and David Amram.

Invited in 2004 and 2005 by Yuri Bashmet to Conduct the Elba festival orchestra (a unique blend of the Kremerata Baltica, the Moscow Soloists and selected wind players from across Europe), Michael Guttman hopes to bring his uniquely rich and varied musical background to the exciting new Toronto chamber music festival 2005.