Nazar Totovytskyi (violin) is a 29-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 Wurzburg under Prof. Soren 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)
He has also appeared at Mozartfest Würzburg, Tsinandali Festival (Georgia), Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festival Academy Budapest, and Hohenschwangau Klassik Festival.
As a soloist, he has performed in more than ten countries worldwide and appeared with renowned orchestras including Thuringen Philharmonie, Kolner Virtuosen Chamber Orchestra, Heidenheim Symphony Orchestra, the HfM Wurzburg 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 Kirill Petrenko, Diana Damrau, Yuja Wang, Mischa Maisky, Joshua Bell, David Geringas, Albrecht Mayer, Emanuel Pahud, Renaud Capucon, 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 Congres (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 29-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 Eugene Ysaye'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.
Alongside his performing career, Nazar Totovytskyi is committed to mentoring young students and teaches violin and chamber music at the D’Accord Academy (Murnau am Staffelsee).
In 2022, he performed on a Vincenzo/Joseph Panormo violin (1795-1800).
Nazar Totovytskyi