The Romanian-born Mihaela Martin has achieved a reputation as one of the most outstanding virtuoso violinists of her generation. She began to study violin with her father at the age of five, and later went to study with Stefan Gheorghiu, a pupil of George Enescu and David Oistrakh. She has won numerous international competitions, beginning with the Second Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow when she was nineteen and followed by top prizes in Montreal, Sion, and Brussels. Her First Prize win at the First International Violin Competition in Indianapolis led to a steady international career. Her début in Carnegie Hall, New York, was acclaimed by the press, as was her recital at the Library of Congress. Mihaela Martin boasts a very large solo repertoire and has appeared with major orchestras and conductors of the highest distinction. In chamber music she has collaborated with some of the leading players of today. She teaches at the Cologne Musikhochschule and plays a Giambattista Guadagnini violin of 1748.