born in Hamburg, the violist Matthias Buchholz studied there and at the Musikhochschule in Detmold and continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He was a prize-winner at the German Music Competition in 1978, in Los Angeles in 1982 and Budapest in 1984. As principal violist of the RSO Stuttgart 1986-1990, he worked with conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Sir Neville Marriner. Since 1991 he has performed as a member of the Linos Ensemble in Europe and Asia and recorded 25 CDs. He was involved in world premieres of works by Aribert Reimann, Hans Zender, Peteris Vasks and Heinz Holliger, he became professor of viola at the Cologne University of Music and Dance in 1990. In addition to invitations to festivals in Italy, France, Poland and Sweden, solo concerts and master classes in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, the USA and many European countries, he was professor of viola at the HEM in Geneva from 2013-2018.