Anna Agafia

Violinist Anna Agafia, also known as Anna Agafia Egholm, Anna Egholm, and Anna Agafia Svideniouk, made a splash early in her career as both a concerto soloist and a chamber music player. She has also been active as an actress and, earlier in life, as a competitive figure skater. Agafia was born in Denmark on June 18, 1996. She took up the violin very early (she has stated that she has no memory of playing the violin for the first time) and was playing at a high level by age five. She also did figure skating and was probably most recognizable in her youth as an actress on the Danish television series Max, which spawned three film sequels, Max Pinsig 1, 2, and 3. At 12, unable to keep up with these strenuous responsibilities, she chose the violin. Agafia attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying with Alexandre Zapolski and Tim Frederiksen and graduating in 2017. She went on to the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, graduating in 2019 after studies with Svetlana Makarova. In 2020, Agafia was artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, pursuing studies with Augustin Dumay. By that time, Agafia had already embarked on an international career. Prizes helped it along; she won the Léonnie Sonning Talent Prize in 2017, the Musikanmelderringens Kunstnerpris in 2021, and the Manfred Grommek Prize. She has appeared with orchestras in various northwestern European countries and beyond, including the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá in Colombia. Agafia is an accomplished chamber player who has performed with such top players as violinist Renaud Capuçon, violist Miguel da Silva, and cellist Andreas Brantelid. Agafia released her debut album in 2023 on the Claves label with the Sinfonia Varsovia, featuring concertos by Szymanowski and Nielsen. Later that year, she returned on the Dacapo label with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá on a recording of the violin concerto of composer August Enna.
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