Mahler Chamber Orchestra appoints violinist José Maria Blumenschein as co-concertmaster

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The Mahler Chamber Orchestra has announced that José Maria Blumenschein is to be its co-concertmaster, sharing duties with Matthew Truscott. This is the first time that the orchestra has had two concertmasters at one time, as it said in a statement: ‘From the very first project he played with the MCO in 2021, it was clear that there is a special connection between him and the orchestra.’

Born in 1985 in Freiburg, Germany, Blumenschein is currently first concertmaster of the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra in Cologne and spent three seasons in the US as associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. During his tenure with WDR he has also taken two seasons off to perform as first concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Philharmonic. He is a founding member of ‘Kammermusik Köln’, a chamber music series in Cologne founded by members of WDR Radio, Gürzenich Orchestra, and Cologne Conservatory members.

Blumenschein studied with Vera Kramarowa in Mannheim before enrolling at the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Joseph Silverstein. He also served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

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