Welcome

My name is Hilmar Kupke, I am a freelance violinist and violist. Previously I was employed as a solo violist at Regensburg Theatre for 22 years and decided to return to freelance music in 2024. I love being on stage (or sitting in the pit) with exciting musicians in changing formations, from chamber music to chamber orchestra to symphony orchestra! I have performed with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the baroque ensembles Aris&Aulis Berlin, Concerto Brandenburg and La Visione Kassel. I am also a regular guest with the Staatskapelle Dresden. As a solo violist, I have played projects at the Kassel State Theatre, the Nuremberg State Opera, the Staatskapelle Weimar and as deputy principal violist at the Komische Oper Berlin. I also combine violin and viola in my sonata recitals. For my programmes, I have already arranged a number of works from the violin and cello literature for the viola, such as the cello sonatas by Rachmaninov and Chopin or the D minor violin sonata by Schumann. I have also expanded the concerto repertoire and transferred Schumann's Violin Concerto to the viola. This work is sometimes criticised for the fact that the solo violin is too often played in the middle register. In my viola arrangement, the solo instrument shows its full range and radiance! Schumann made an arrangement for violin of his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. - so it was only natural for me to make an version for viola here too. I performed both works with the Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
My heart beats especially for historical performance practice. It helps me to find new colours and come into contact with myself and my colleagues in a more lively way. I am just as committed to the music of our time - where our present becomes sound and I make contemporary voices heard through my work.
I consider myself lucky to be able to follow this freelance path as a musician!

Teaching