Christina Biwank

Christina Biwank is principal viola of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also active as a chamber musician and held a teaching position at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden from 2003-2024.

Christina Biwank began her musical training on the viola as a junior student with Prof Emile Cantor at the Trossingen Music Academy in Baden Württemberg. After graduating from high school, she studied with Professor Hariolf Schlichtig at the University of Music in Munich, where she also studied chamber music and pedagogy. Christina Biwank then studied with Prof David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Various international masterclasses - for example with Atar Arad and Thomas Riebl - complemented her training. She has received scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service, the Karl Klingler Foundation, the Munich Orchestra Academy, the Villa Musica Foundation and was a winner of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft competition.

After a temporary position with the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich, Christina Biwank was a member of the Sächsische Staatskapelle until she accepted the solo position with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Her orchestral engagements continue to be supplemented by solo and chamber music appearances. She has been a soloist with the Bielefeld Philharmonic, the Anhalt Philharmonic Dessau, the Bergische Symphoniker and the Dresden Philharmonic and has performed with artists such as Gerhard Schulz, Lilly Bayrowa, David Waterman, as well as the Hugo Wolf Quartet and the Mandelring Quartet. With pianist Christoph Berner, she is dedicated to cultivating the duo repertoire for viola and piano. She is a founding member of the Collenbusch Quartet and the Jacobus Stainer Quartet.

Christina Biwank plays a viola made by the master luthier Martin Schwalb from Vienna.