Edna Unseld (2011) was born into a Swiss-German family of musicians – both her parents are professional violinists. Edna begins playing the violin at the age of four and, due to her special talent, she is soon given Anne-Sophie Mutter’s children’s violin.
In 2021, many important doors open for Edna: Maxim Vengerov invites her to his online masterclass, she wins 3rd prize at the International Leonid Kogan Competition (Brussels) and plays – conducted by Gilbert Varga – with the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra in memorial concerts for Tibor Varga in Pécs (Hungary) and in the Liszt Academy in Budapest.
In 2022, she wins the international violin competition Il Piccolo Violino Magico in Italy and the special prize “for special achievements” of the International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Germany. She has also received several national 1st prizes with distinction with her string quartet, in which she also regularly plays the viola.
In the 23/24 season, Edna is engaged as a soloist for various concerts in Switzerland and abroad, including with the Camerata Zürich-orchestra at Tonhalle Zürich, at the Sion Festival and as part of the Concours musical international de Montréal in Canada.
For the coming season, solo appearances are planned at the Brugg Festival with the Zürcher Kammerorchester (ZKO) and for the 50th anniversary of the SJMW with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.
Edna plays an old italian violin on loan from a private collection and is taught at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich (MKZ) in the violin class of Jens Lohmann. Here she participates in the youth orchestra Stringendo Zurich for talented young musicians.
She attends the K&S Gymnasium Rämibühl Zürich and dances ballet in her free time.
