Violinist
Maria Milstein, based in the Netherlands and of Russian and French background, is a rising figure as a soloist, in duets with her sister, pianist Nathalia Milstein, and in her own
Van Baerle Trio.
Milstein was born in Moscow in 1985. Although unrelated to
Nathan Milstein, she grew up in a musical family; her grandfather Yakov Milstein was a piano and theory professor at the Moscow Conservatory and taught pianists
Bella Davidovich and
Elisabeth Leonskaja, among others.
Milstein took up the violin at the age of five. Her family emigrated to France in 1991, and she continued her studies with
Pavel Vernikov in Fiesole, Italy.
Milstein enrolled at the Amsterdam Conservatory, studying with
Ilya Grubert and graduating in 2008 with the highest honors. She went on for further studies in London with David Takeno, and from 2011 to 2014, was artist-in-residence at Belgium's Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel. In September of 2014 she began teaching at her alma mater, the Amsterdam Conservatory. Her violin-and-piano duo with Nathalia began in 2005, and in 2008 she formed the
Van Baerle Trio with pianist
Hannes Minnaar and cellist Gideon den Herder.
Milstein has been a significant prizewinner both as a soloist (the Kersjes Award in the Netherlands in 2010) and in the
Van Baerle Trio (first prize and four other prizes at the International Chamber Music Competition of Lyon, France, in 2011). In 2016
Milstein was named a Borletti-Buitoni Trust artist. She has performed with the
Liège Royal Philharmonic, the
Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the
Brussels Philharmonic, and the National Orchestra of Belgium.
Milstein has made several well-regarded albums early in her career. The
Van Baerle Trio's
2012 Etcetera-label debut, featuring works by
Saint-Saëns,
Loevendie, and
Ravel, earned an Edison Award, and
Milstein's solo debut, Sounds of War, recorded with pianist
Hanna Shybayeva, earned another Edison Award in 2015.
Maria and Nathalia Milstein released the album La Sonate de Vinteuil, with music by
Saint-Saëns,
Reynaldo Hahn, and
Debussy, in 2017.