Māra Miķelsone

Mara Mikelsone was born in Riga and studied violin at the Latvian Academy of Music and at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She is a prize winner of several competitions and took master classes with Reiner Kussmaul, Jacque Gestem, Antje Weithaas and Christian Altenburger. Already at the age of sixteen, she started playing with renowned international youth orchestras such as the Schleswig Holstein Festivalorchester and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. She played led by top conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Claudio Abbado, Franz Welser-Moest and Ivan Fisher. She was a member of the Riga Chamber Players and the Rigas Festival Orchestra, and worked as tutti first violin in the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra. Māra regularly performs in various chamber music ensembles. She has been a member of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra as tutti first violin since 2012.