Michael Foyle

Born in 1991, British-Dutch violinist Michael Foyle is already proving to be an artist of great class and elegance on the concert platform. Praised for 'playing of compelling conviction'  (The Daily Telegraph), his powerful communication style has won over audiences internationally.

Michael launched his career by winning The Netherlands Violin Competition 2016. His performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate invitation to give his debut in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. His Wigmore Hall recital debut followed that year, described by The Strad as 'full of sparkling detail, with tonal beauty and incisive rhythmic clarity, balancing wit and poetry.'

In recent seasons he has made concerto debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Mozart No.5), English Chamber Orchestra (Prokofiev No.1), Polish Baltic Philharmonic (Elgar) as well as returning to Rotterdam Philharmonic (Korngold) and Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia in Moscow's Great Hall and House of Music (Mendelssohn and Brahms).  

In recital, he regularly appears in the UK’s most prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and Usher Hall, as well as at festivals including Brighton, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Deal, Edinburgh, Leicester, Newbury, St Magnus and Windsor, frequently being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Recitals at international festivals have taken him recently to Stravinsky à Voreppe (France), Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Delft, Groningen and The Hague (The Netherlands), Salieri-Zinetti Verona (Italy), Cervantino (Mexico), Verão Clássico (Portugal), Evgeny Mravinsky Saint Petersburg (Russia), Puplinge Classique (Switzerland) and New York Chamber Music (USA).

In January 2023, his CD release of all ten Beethoven Sonatas on Challenge Records with pianist Maksim Štšura received five stars in BBC Music Magazine. Previous recordings include Lutosławski and Penderecki: Complete Violin and Piano Works (Delphian Records) and The Great War Centenary: Debussy, Janáček, Respighi Sonatas, both of which received similar press acclaim ('vividly and beautifully conceived and executed' -  BBC Music Magazine, 'richly detailed and impassioned performances' - The Daily Telegraph, 'Foyle produces an absolutely gorgeous sound' - Fanfare).

Alongside his solo career, Michael plays in Trio Balthasar and is Professor of Violin at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne and at the Royal Academy of Music in London (the youngest appointed in the institution's 200-year history). He is invited to give masterclasses across the world, from Canada to China. 

Michael plays a Gennaro Gagliano violin from 1750 on private loan.