Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika's multi-faceted career spans a wide range of activities from soloist to orchestra concertmaster, primaria of the Artemis Quartet, professor and jury member. Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in 2009 and recipient of several Echo Classic Awards, Vineta Sareika was the first woman to hold the first concertmaster position in the history of the Berlin Philharmonic. In addition to her concert activities Vineta is teaching chamber music at the Universität der Künste Berlin and serving as a jury member in the most prestigious violin and chamber music competitions worldwide. Vineta Sareika plays an Antonio Stradivari violin (1683), generously on loan to her from the Ruggieri Foundation.
Education
A native of Jurmala, Latvia, Vineta Sareika began her violin studies at the age of 5 in her native city with Ojārs Kalniņš, Haviva Dimenšteine and Anete Zvaigzne. She studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris with Gérard Poulet and at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Augustin Dumay. Sareika has attended the master classes of, among others, Ida Haendel, Ivry Gitlis, Zakhar Bron, Mauricio Fuks and Sergey Krylov.
Soloist
After becoming a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2009, Sareika has been invited to perform as a soloist by renowned orchestras such as the London Philharmonia, Belgian National Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon Philharmonic, Latvian National Orchestra and London Chamber Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Paavo Järvi, Paul Goodwin, Gilbert Varga, Jean-Bernard Pommier and Gérard Korsten on famous stages like Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Sidney Recital Hall, Kennedy Center Washington, Wigmore Hall London, National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing or Isumi Hall Osaka.
Vineta Sareika has received the Award of the Ministry of Culture as well as the Excellence Award in Latvia, she has been named several times the Instrumentalist of the Year by the Latvian Radio and honored with the Great Music Award, the most prestigious cultural award of the country.
Chamber music
Since 2012 Vineta Sareika is the primaria of the Artemis Quartet, currently on a break. Laureat of international prizes, member of the 'Verein Beethoven-Haus' of Bonn, the Artemis Quartet has performed in the main concert venues in the world, produced it's own concert series in Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus and Munich Prinzregententheater and recorded exclusively for Warner Classics.
Since 2006 Vineta performs regularly together with the french pianist Amandine Savary, forming a permanent ensemble based on a strong friendship and a common devotion to chamber music and the vaste duo repertoire. They were both founding members of Trio Dali, in which a productive seven years long collaboration led to success in competitions in New York, Osaka, Frankfurt and Vienna, two recordings for Fuga Libera, highly acclaimed by the critics (Diapason d'Or, Choc of the Year of Classica, Editor's Choice of Gramophone) and succesful concerts worldwide.
Vineta also collaborates with artists such as Augustin Dumay, Iveta Apkalna, Florian Boesch, Michel Portal, Alexander Lonquich, Gautier Capuçon, Elisabeth Leonskaya, Peter Donohoe, Quatuor Ebène, Abdel-Rahman El Bacha, Paul Watkins, Laurence Power or Paul Meyer.
Orchestra concertmaster
Vineta Sareika was the first woman in the history of the Berlin Philharmonic to hold the first concertmaster position from 2023 until 2025 when she took the decision to quit this orchestra. She is regularly invited as guest concertmaster by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Munich Philharmonic, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dresden Philharmonie, Brussels Royal Opera Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic. From 2010 to 2013 she was the principal concertmaster of Antwerp Symphony Orchestra.
Teaching
Vineta Sareika is teaching chamber music at the Universität der Künste Berlin since 2013. In 2024 she became an honorary professor of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. From 2013 to 2020 she was Master in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium. She has given masterclasses at the Sydney and Melbourne Conservatories, London Royal Academy of Music, Nashville Vanderbilt University, Jerusalem Music Center, HMT Leipzig, Proquartet Chamber music Center, Krakow Music Academy and Weikersheim International Chamber music course. She is invited to serve as a jury member at competitions as the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition, ARD International String Quartet Competition, Geneva International Chamber Music Competition, Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China or the Maestra International Conductiong Competition in Paris.