Permanent position for HfMT violinist with top German orchestra

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Magdalena Kraus, who earned her bachelor’s degree in violin from the HfMT in 2021 under Professor Tanja Becker-Bender, has successfully completed her probationary year with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

Biography
Magdalena Kraus (born March 27, 1997) received her first violin lessons at the age of 5 from Mag. Angelika Dallinger at the Eferding State Music School, where she also studied viola from 2006 to 2017. In 2011, she was accepted as a student in the “Academy for the Promotion of Gifted Students” at the Anton Bruckner Private University in the class of Prof. Josef Sabaini. She then went on to the “Hamburg University of Music and Drama,” where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Tanja Becker-Bender’s class, graduating in July 2021. Since October 2021, she has been a master’s student in Thomas Reif’s class—himself an HfMT alumnus from Tanja Becker-Bender’s violin class—at the “Mozarteum University of Salzburg.”
Magdalena Kraus is a multiple first-prize winner at the national level of the Austrian youth competition “prima la musica” and was the 2017 winner of the “Nibelungen Förderpreis.” She was also kindly provided with an instrument by the “Instruments for Talents” Foundation until 2019. During her studies, she received support through scholarships from the “Oscar Vera Ritter Foundation” and the “Franz Wirth Memorial Foundation.” Since 2019, she has been part of “Live Music Now Hamburg” in various ensembles, and since the 2022–23 season, she has been a member of the organization “Musethica.” With various chamber music ensembles, Magdalena has performed on major Austrian stages throughout her career and at international festivals such as the “International Victonia Arts Festival” in Malta. Playing in an orchestra was one of Magdalena’s greatest passions from a young age. After playing in various youth orchestras, such as the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the JSO Upper Austria, she gained her first experience in professional orchestras through stints with festival orchestras like the Camerata Davos. In January 2020, she made her debut in a professional orchestra through an academy position with the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra. Two years later, she was offered a fixed-term contract in the second violin section of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has been a regular substitute with the DSO Berlin, the Munich Philharmonic, and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Since September 2022, after winning an audition, she has been a member of the second violin section of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is one of Germany’s most renowned orchestras: since 1946, it has been delighting audiences worldwide with its characteristically dark, rich, and radiant sound. With well over 7,000 concerts in more than 500 cities and 63 countries, they have also become cultural ambassadors for Bavaria and all of Germany as the Bavarian State Philharmonic and tour regularly around the world. The orchestra has received numerous prizes and awards, including for its countless record and CD recordings. In 2018, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra was honored for the “Best Concert Program of the Season.”