Janiczek was born in Salzburg into family of Polish-Czech descent. He first attracted international attention when the violinist and conductor Sándor Végh – who strongly influenced him and became his mentor – appointed him concertmaster of the Camerata Salzburg at a very young age.
Under Végh’s direction, Janiczek also regularly performed as a soloist with works such as Beethoven’s violin concerto at the Salzburg Festival. Alexander Janiczek has always been fascinated by the long violinist tradition which knows how to combine the musical roles of soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician.
After this formative period, Janiczek made guest appearances as musical director with numerous renowned European chamber orchestras. With the Chamber Orchestra of Europe he undertook extensive concert tours throughout Europe and the Far East, developing close musical partnerships with artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, recording works by Stravinski for Linn records.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra appointed Janiczek as concertmaster and later as Associate Artist in 2011. With this orchestra he performed also as a soloist under Robin Ticciati and made highly acclaimed recordings of works by W.A. Mozart and Carl Maria von Weber. At the same time came many invitations to lead symphony orchestras such as the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Munich State Opera.
Through Sandor Végh’s formative musical education, which was strongly anchored in the spirit of the 19th century but also clearly linked to the 18th century, Janiczek began soon after his early Salzburg years to take an in-depth look at historical performance practice. He worked closely with Sir Roger Norrington, Robert Levin, Philippe Herreweghe and David Watkin. Today, Janiczek is concertmaster of the Dresden Festival Orchestra, which plays on romantic instruments and recently made headlines with historically informed performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle with Kent Nagano, and, in addition to guest leading invitations is concertmaster and Artistic Partner of the Orchestra of the 18th Century in Amsterdam.
Alexander Janiczek has also previously held the position of Musical Director of the Chamber Music educational programme of the East Neuk Festival in Scotland and has taught violin at the Guildhall School of Music in London. He is currently Professor for Violin at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen.
He plays a violin Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona 1731, “ex Sorkin”, which is provided to him by the Austrian National Bank
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