Amir Bissen was born into a renowned musical family and at just four years old, started playing the violin at the Central Music School in Almaty. Aged seven he made his first public appearance performing with the Kazakh State Symphony Orchestra. He went on to win numerous competitions and performed often in public and on TV and radio.
At the age of twelve, he moved to England to continue his studies at the prestigious Purcell School of Music. He gave many performances throughout the UK and Europe and achieved great success in music competitions. At the age of thirteen, he became the youngest ever winner of the instrumental category of a distinguished international Welsh music competition. He went on to record his debut CD for the Black Box label, and was featured soloist in a UK-wide series of concerts.
Amir made his Royal Festival Hall, London debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra, performing the Bruch Violin Concerto for which he was kindly loaned a Guaneri del Gesù violin, reputed to have been played by Paganini. This caused quite a stir and Amir was asked to perform live on this rare violin on the BBC.
During his studies at the Royal College of Music, London, Amir travelled the world to take part in prestigious festivals and participated in many masterclasses, including with Ida Haendel and Ivry Gitlis. He also performed at a UNESCO gala in Paris before the then HRH The Prince of Wales, now His Majesty, King Charles III.
After graduation, he continued his studies in Switzerland with renowned violin teacher, Professor Zakhar Bron, for whom Amir instigated and single-handedly produced an invaluable extensive on-line teaching resource series. He successfully applied it to his own career in teaching at both the Central Music School and the Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty.
The latest development in Amir’s career has been a move to Winnipeg, where he has since established his own quartet, the Vitality Quartet and a violin/piano duo and is busy planning performances around Manitoba. Plans are underway to expand his role as a violin teacher too.