French violinist Bernard Zinck known for his “round and opulent tone and his vibrato bringing moments of sheer ecstasy” [the Strad] began his career after winning the 1992 Yehudi Menuhin Trust Award in Paris. His talent and interpretive insight have made him a sought-after musician who has performed extensively in concerts and recitals in Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, South Korea and Japan. His artistry has been praised in terms such as "impeccable accuracy of pitch" and "formidable technique". Fanfare Magazine was impressed by the "singing, sensuous, sumptuous, shimmering” quality of his playing, which Le Figaro summed up in the expression "violon solaire.”
A New York Classical Music Society artist, Zinck has performed at festivals and venues worldwide including Weill Hall at Carnegie Recital Hall, National Gallery and Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Santa Fe Concert Association (United States); Oscar Peterson Hall in Montreal (Canada); Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro and International Chamber Music Festival of Paraíba (Brazil); Oji Hall and Shirakawa Hall (Japan). In France, concert venues and festivals include the Châtelet, Athénée Louis Jouvet and Musée Grévin theaters in Paris, regional theaters in Bastia, Boulogne, Compiègne, Montpellier, Reims, Saumur and Tours, La Grange de Meslay, Les Flâneries de Reims, Paris-Montmartre, Radio-France Montpellier, Rencontres Musicales de Calenzana and the cathedrals of Alençon, Clamecy, Le Mans, Sées and Tours. In Europe he has performed at Brighton Arts (U.K.); World Academy of Irish Dance and Music in Limerick (Ireland); Salzburg Mozarteum (Austria); Liszt Academy in Budapest (Hungary); Euregio Maas-Rijn Organ Festival (Holland); Szymanowski Festival in Zakopane (Poland and Sicily); Basilica San Clemente in Rome and Orsanmichele Church in Florence (Italy).
He has been a soloist with many orchestras, including the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony, San Juan Symphony and Princeton Chamber Players (United States), Orquesta Sinfónica de Chihuahua (Mexico), Porto Alegre, Unisinos, Caxias and Camargo Guarnieri symphony orchestras (Brazil), Bohemia Symphony (Czech Republic), Orchestre Symphonique de Tours (France), Hungarian National Philharmonic (Hungary), New Opera Di Roma Orchestra (Italy), Radio-Television Orchestra (Romania), and). In Paris, Zinck gave the European premiere of Chebaline’s Concertino for violin and strings op. 14/1 with the Orchestre National de la Garde Républicaine.
Based in Milwaukee, Zinck has performed extensively throughout the region. Chicago performances include the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Cultural Center, Rush Hour at St. James Cathedral, The University of Chicago, Alliance Française and on WFMT “Live from Studio One” with members of the Chicago Chamber Musicians and the Cube ensemble. In Wisconsin, he has appeared at the Milwaukee Art Museum, All Saints Cathedral and the Polish Cultural Center of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), the Chazen Museum of Art (Madison) and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music (Appleton).
As a recording artist, Bernard Zinck has released the complete works for violin and piano of Karol Szymanowski (Ligia Digital), the “Live from France Album” (Musical Heritage Society) and a recording featuring chamber music works by Burt Levy and Yehuda Yannay (Vienna Modern Masters). One of his performances at the Rush Hour concerts was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, and he has been featured on an array of television and radio broadcasts in France and the United States. In 2016 and 2021, he wrote articles on performance arts injuries that were published by String Magazine and The Strad.
A committed educator, Dr. Zinck was awarded the “Certificate of Excellence in Studio Teaching” by the Milwaukee Civic Music Association in 2018. He is currently Associate Professor of Violin and Head of Strings at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is also the artistic director and founder of the Lakeside Chamber Music Workshop and the chamber music festival Musiques et Vignes en Confluence in the Loire Valley, France. He has served on the faculty of the Köhln Summer Institute in Montepulciano, the International Lyric Academy of Rome and the Tuscia Operafestival (Italy), Music in the Alps and Acamédie des Arts in Courchevel and Flaine (France), Holy Trinity Summer Music camp in Haiti, and the Eastern Music Festival where he served as “Distinguished Teaching Artist” in 2019.
Zinck graduated from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris (first prizes in violin and chamber music), the Juilliard School as a Fulbright scholar (Bachelor and Master of Music) and Temple University as a Russell Conway Fellow (Doctor of Musical Arts). He wrote his doctoral thesis on the Chevalier de Saint-George, his violin style and Eighteenth-Century Musical aesthetics.
Bernard Zinck plays the “Feibelmann”, a Giovanni Battista Rogeri violin, dated 1690.
The Zinck-Chicha Duo was founded in 1985 by French violinist Bernard Zinck and
pianist Carole Chicha when they were both students at the Conservatoire National
Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the chamber-music class of Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux.
After winning first prize in chamber music, the two musicians lost sight of each other for
more than forty years. Bernard Zinck decided to move the United States to continue his
musical training, ultimately establishing his career as a soloist and teacher after winning
the Yehudi Menuhin Trust Award in 1992. After winning several prizes in international
competitions (Vercelli and Marsala), Carole Chicha has devoted herself to chamber
music and teaching.
In 2022, the two musicians reconnected by chance and together, decided to reform their
duo. Since then, they have performed in France at the Polish Cultural Center and the Ile
Saint-Louis Theater in Paris, in the conservatories of Melun and the Great South, at the
Musiques et Vignes en Confluence chamber music festival in the Loire Valley and at the
Académie des Arts in Flaine. They have been Artists in Residence at the Maison
Dutilleux-Joy in Candes Saint Martin, France. In the United States, they have performed
recitals at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts recital hall,
the Polish Cultural Center of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago’s Fulton Hall, the
Ethical Society in Philadelphia, and the University of Delaware’s Gore Hall.
The Zinck-Chicha duo has a special affinity with early twentieth-century composers such
as Chausson, de Falla, Lekeu, Poulenc, Respighi, Szymanowski and Turina, who drew
inspiration from their rich national, musical and folkloric heritage. The Duo repertoire
includes programs such as Europe, at the Dawn of the 20 th Century, Spanish Flavors,
Tango Duos, Celebrating Women Composers and Romance and Turbulences.
Carole Chicha entered the CNSMDP (Paris Superior Conservatory of Music and
Dance) at the age of twelve in the preparatory cycle, in solfège, theory, harmony and
piano studies with Ventislav Yankoff. She then continued her studies at the college level
in the classes of Gabriel Tacchino for piano, and Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux for chamber
music. In 1985, she graduated by winning first prize in the piano and chamber music
competitions. She decided to deepen her training by attending master classes with
renowned pedagogues such as Jean-Claude Pennetier, Michel Beroff, Evgeny Malinin
and Catherine Collard. Music critic Jean Abel notes that “her eloquent playing has the
ardor and assurance of youth and musical chops that allows her to display her brilliance
enthusiasm. » Carole Chicha is a professor of piano and chamber music at the
Conservatory of Melun in Seine-et-Marne.
After winning his first violin prize at the CNSMDP, Bernard Zinck continued his musical
studies at the Juilliard School (Bachelor and Master of Music) in New York, then at
Temple University in Philadelphia where he earned a doctorate in musical performance
(DMA). Winning the 1992 Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Award in Paris helped Zinck
establish an international career. He has performed worldwide as venues such as
Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the festivals of Montmartre/Radio France
festivals/Grange de Meslay/Flâneries de Reims in France, Academy Franz Liszt in
Budapest, Mozarteum in Salzburg, San Clemente Basilica in Rome, Szymanowski
Festivals in Poland and Sicily, Brighton Arts Festival in England, Carnegie Recital Hall in
New York, National Gallery in Washington, St James Cathedral in Chicago, Oji Hall in
Tokyo, Samyook University in Seoul, Cecília Meireles Hall in Rio de Janeiro and in the
municipal theaters of Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, São Luis, Uberlândia in Brazil.
In 2023, Bernard Zinck joined the roster of the New York Classical Music Society artists.
He currently serves as Director of the String Department at the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee and is the artistic director of Lakeside Chamber Music Workshop and the
chamber music festival Musiques et Vignes en Confluence. Zinck has written articles for
String Magazine and The Strad and has recorded for Ligia Digital, Musical Heritage
Society and Vienna Modern Masters record labels.
Teaching
With over 25 years of teaching experience, Bernard Zinck continues to be a dedicated violin and chamber music pedagogue. He currently holds the positions of Associate Professor of Violin and Director of the Sorkin Chamber Music Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His commitment to chamber music has led him to create the Lakeside Chamber Music Workshop, a summer program that offers participants chamber music coaching, master classes and presents concerts. His students have been admitted into music programs at the Paris Superior Conservatory of Music, the New England, Oberlin and San Francisco conservatories and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Many have won competitions, positions in orchestras and universities, or have started string programs in their own communities.
As the product of both conservatory and university training, Bernard Zinck firmly believes in a well-rounded musical and academic education. In his teaching, he stresses the importance of acquiring the broadest possible knowledge – a knowledge focused not only on the instrument but also on physiology, music history and analysis, aesthetics, art and history. Equipped with a rich contextual background, his students are encouraged to seek mind and body connections, leading them to develop a natural and stress-free technique. Awareness of how the body works is an essential component of his teaching, as every aspect of violin technique requires a set of precise and well-coordinated physical actions. Once students develop and incorporate this awareness, they are able to concentrate on the musical aspect of their training. In this regard, he encourages his students to study scores, recordings, and write research papers in order to learn about each composer's musical style.
A performer himself, Bernard Zinck seeks to offer many performance opportunities to his university students. Performing in weekly master classes, class recitals on and off campus, chamber music concerts, or collaborative performances with dancers or other artists, they hone their skills and learn to become confident and at ease on stage.
"Zinck has a round and opulent tone, a vibrato bringing moments of sheer ecstasy...impeccable accuracy of pitch and acrobatics gorgeously captured." The Strad Magazine
"Zinck is an excellent player, his technique fully equals the formidable demands of the music. Pure, sweet, expressive tone brings poetry and lyricism. Highly talented and accomplished violinist." Strings Magazine
"Singing, sensuous, shimmering, radiant - and glowingly recommended." Fanfare
"High on the list of essential Szyamanowski recordings...absolutely captures the mysterious and otherwordly atmosphere of the Mythes." High Fidelity
"Bernard Zinck's playing is distinguished by superhumanly accurate intonation. He also has the technique and muscle to realize the music more passionate moments...the result is pure music." Musical Heritage Review
"Zinck plunges into Szymanowski with intensity and plays with a shimmering tone." Diapason
"Zinck played with strong technique and he phrased with sensitivity. His timbre was particularly eloquent and his brio winning" The Washington Post
"Franck's famous sonata emerged with passion served up on flawless playing. Musicality and control was just as evident...gentle, lively, magical and dashing." Classical New Jersey
"Rich sound...tasteful playing...Zinck is a bold, expressive, commanding player. Hi moves comfortably and convincingly from style to style. His interpretations are full of the nuance and detail that demand attention." The Milwaukee Journal
"Bernard Zinck made the phrases swell, crest and break vigorously. This is thrilling music, and also beautifully crafted.The intensity never fell." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"He demonstrated powerful technique, strong musical taste and an easy platform presence...rounded performances with real artistic interest.Zinck was superb, his playing had plenty of fire and he refined his tone to a whisper. His agility was staggering. The concert was a high-voltage program of concentrated and rewarding music making. The Santa Fe New Mexican
"Quiet virtuosity and sustained grace...eloquent interpretation, the luminous product of a refined sensibility." The Albuquerque Journal
"Excellent style in keeping with a strong sense of French tradition...eloquent and sensuous playing." Tokyo Asahi News
"Splendid interpretation, extraordinary concert and well deserved standing ovation." El Diario, Chihuahua
"A scintillating violinist, exceptionally gifted with a string of impressive performances to his credit...Plays with virtuosity, energy and panache...sensitive and depply moving." Le Figaro, Paris
"A concert of rare beauty by an exceptional artist." Dernières Nouvelles D'Alsace
"Prestigious concert. Magnificent, round and clear tone." Centre Presse - Nord
Contact
Bernard Zinck concert bookings and publicity appearances are managed by:
