Orchestra members

Anton Jivaev

Position Viola tutti
In the orchestra since 2012

Since the day Anton Jivaev was born into a family of musicians in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he has been surrounded by music, ranging from classical to jazz and folk. Originally, violin was Anton’s voice in music, however at the age of 16 having played viola in chamber music he felt completely at home and never switched back. Although music has been the vital artery throughout Anton’s life, at an early age he realized that his passion for woodworking would later take him in a different direction.

In search for his place in the world of music, Anton first traveled from Uzbekistan to the US to study viola with Randolph Kelly and later with Roberto Diáz at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. After graduation Anton Jivaev was principal violist of the North Carolina Symphony for 5 years. In 2012 he moved to Germany to become a member of the oldest civil orchestra in the world - the Gewandhaus Orchestra, founded in 1743. From 2015 till 2023 he was violist of the Gewandhaus-Quartett - the oldest uninterrupted string quartet in history founded in 1808, with whom he toured extensively and performed a vast amount of chamber music works including complete Beethoven String Quartet cycle in Japan and China.

Currently, Anton resides in Leipzig, Germany where as a musician of the Gewandhaus Orchestra he has the luxury of leading three careers in music simultaneously - performing symphonic and operatic repertoire, as well as playing Bach’s music in St. Thomas church.

Mr. Jivaev is a passionate wood worker and maintains a busy wood working Atelier.