José Maria Blumenschein
José Maria Blumenschein, a native of Freiburg, Germany and born of Brazilian parents, currently serves as First Concertmaster of the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra in Cologne after having served as Associate Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra for three seasons. During his tenure with WDR, he also took two seasons off to perform as First Concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Philharmonic. He has been working with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra since 2021 and has been concertmaster of the orchestra since March 2023.
As a passionate leader he regularly performs with a selection of European orchestras and ensembles that includes the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, Bayerische Staatsoper, Dresden Staatskapelle, and NDR Radio Orchestra.
Blumenschein is also a founding member of Kammermusik Köln, a chamber music series in Cologne founded by members of WDR Radio, Gürzenich Orchestra and Cologne Conservatory to be the first all-year chamber music series.
Born in 1985, Blumenschein received his first violin lesson at the age of four in Freiburg, Germany, at the Pflüger Institute for Highly Gifted Children. In 1990, he began studies with Vera Kramarowa in Mannheim. In 2001, Blumenschein was accepted by the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with conductor and violinist Joseph Silverstein and served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.