Leonard Melcher

Leonard Melcher is a Frankfurt-based violinist who began taking violin and piano lessons at an early age. He gained his first orchestral experience in the Hessian State Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as serving as concertmaster and section leader in several youth orchestras and in the tutti section of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie.

He began his violin studies in 2016 in Stuttgart with Prof. Kolja Lessing, continued them in Frankfurt with Prof. Sophia Jaffé and Prof. Susanne Stoodt and completed his bachelor’s degree in 2021. This was followed by a master’s program in Lübeck with Prof. Elisabeth Weber and Carlos Johnson (2022–2024), which he completed with top marks. In 2022–23, he was an academy member of the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra and completed an Erasmus semester in Oslo with Prof. Henning Kraggerud. He gained further inspiration from masterclasses with the professors Mark Gothoni, Ulf Hoelscher, Stefan Hempel, Rudens Turku, Heime Müller, Maria Elisabeth Lott and Erika Geldsetzer. As a soloist with the Pan Symphony Orchestra, he performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in 2021 and as a chamber musician, he performed during his master’s studies with musicians such as Pauline Sachse, Troels Svane, Elisabeth Weber, Jens Thoben and Peter Bruns.

Since 2023, contemporary music has been a major focus of his work. Following projects with the Ensemble Modern at the Musikfest Berlin, he became a member of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) 2024/2025 and has performed at the Lucerne Festival, the Gaudeamus Festival and the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, among others. He is a founding member of the Chroma Kollektiv, formed within the IEMA 2024/25, which by now has performed at the fluctoplasma Festival and the Moers Festival, among others. In 2025, he performed again with Ensemble Modern, including at the Musikfest Berlin to celebrate the 90th birthday of Helmut Lachenmann. In September and November 2025, he also worked as a freelance musician with the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Leonard was a member of the Grafenegg Academy Orchestra in 2026.

Supported by the ULYSSES Platform, Leonard was part of the IEMA-Ensemble 2024/25.