Vesna Stefanovich Gruppman: Mormon Musician

Vesna Stefanovich Gruppman is a violin and viola soloist and professor of violin and viola at the Rotterdam Conservatory.

She was born in Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia). Her solo career began when she was a teenager. She won first prize at the Jaroslav Kocian International Violin Competition. She was the first artist to win the Yugoslavia National Violin Competition six times consecutively. By the time she was sixteen, she had performed as a soloist with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. She was often featured on radio and television programs throughout Europe. Her critically acclaimed 2007 performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Orchestra at Temple Square in partnership with the legendary Ida Haendel was broadcast numerous times on the U.S. national cable network.

She graduated from the Moscow Central Special School of Music and earned her doctorate degree in performance and pedagogy from the Moscow Conservatory, where she met her husband, Igor Gruppman. Together they founded the Gruppman International Violin Institute in 2002, where they select, train, and develop the careers of exceptionally gifted violinists from around the world using videoconferencing technology. In 2002, the American String Teachers Association honored her with the College Teacher of the Year award. She was a professor at Brigham Young University and a founding member of the Orchestra at Temple Square. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She continues to regularly appear as a soloist and chamber musician internationally. In 1993, she and her husband were honored with a Grammy Award for their recording of Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for two violins.