Nazar Totovytskyi (violin) is a 28-year-old violinist from Kyiv, born into a Ukrainian family of musicians. He began studying the violin at the age of five at the Mykola Lysenko State Music Lyceum in Kyiv with Prof. Yaroslava Rivnyak and studied chamber music with Prof. Rajko.
A prizewinner of numerous international competitions, he is an accomplished concertmaster and passionate chamber musician. Nazar Totovytskyi is a graduate of the Orchestra Academy of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently pursuing the highest soloist degree (Konzertexamen) at the University of Music Würzburg under Prof. Sören Uhde.
Since the age of seven, he has participated in national and international competitions and festivals. His awards include:
•First Prize – International Competition “Chortitsa Chords” (Zaporizhzhia)
•Diploma – B. Dvarionas Competition (Vilnius)
•Grand Prix – Yevgeny Stankovitch International Competition (Kyiv)
•First Prize – Ukrainian Chamber Music Competition (Odesa)
•Diploma – International Grumiaux Violin Competition (Brussels)
As a soloist, he has performed in more than ten countries worldwide and appeared with renowned orchestras including Thüringen Philharmonie, Kölner Virtuosen Chamber Orchestra, Heidenheim Symphony Orchestra, the HfM Würzburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Zaporizhzhia State Symphony Orchestra.
He has been invited as a guest to the Berliner Philharmoniker (including a Karajan Academy anniversary concert under Kirill Petrenko), Stuttgart State Opera, Saarland State Orchestra, and the Mahler Foundation Festival Orchestra London.
Following engagements with the Nuremberg State Philharmonic and the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, he served as Deputy Principal at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
As a soloist, concertmaster, and chamber musician, he has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Diana Damrau, Yuja Wang, Mischa Maisky, Joshua Bell, David Geringas, Albrecht Mayer, Emanuel Pahud, Renaud Capuçon, Kit Armstrong, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Johannes Moser and Gianandrea Noseda.
He has performed in major concert halls including the National Philharmonic of Ukraine (Kyiv), La Seine Musicale (Paris), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Berlin Philharmonie, Palais de la Musique et des Congrès (Strasbourg), Franz Liszt Academy (Budapest), Alte Oper Frankfurt, Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Herkulessaal (Munich), and the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.).
In July 2025, Heidenheimer Zeitung wrote:
“On stage alongside the Voith Orchestra stood an extremely worthy successor to Sarasate: the 28-year-old violinist Nazar Totovytskyi… The collaboration in Carmen Fantasy with the Voith Orchestra and the extraordinarily virtuosic Totovytskyi worked magnificently.”
He has received artistic inspiration in masterclasses with Pinchas Zukerman, Boris Garlitsky, Eberhard Feltz, Natalia Prischepenko and Yair Kless.
His recordings include chamber music productions (including Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Two Violins), supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as recordings of works by Anton Bruckner under Gerd Schaller (co-production with BR Klassik), Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Gimeno, and Rudi Stephan’s opera Die ersten Menschen with the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra.
In 2022, he performed on a Vincenzo/Joseph Panormo violin (1795–1800).
