"A brilliant representative of the great European violin tradition."
 

Professor Lilia Umnova has enjoyed a distinguished international career spanning more than 45 years as an acclaimed concert violinist, chamber musician, and eminent pedagogue. Her artistic identity is deeply rooted in the finest traditions of the Russian violin school. She received her musical education under the guidance of eminent professors who carried on the direct lineage of the legendary masters: her first teacher, Professor Jury Vitenson (a graduate of Yakov Dobrzhynets, thereby continuing the Leopold Auer tradition), Professor Mikhail Reyson (a graduate of Leopold Auer and Sergei Korguev), and Professor Semyon Snitkovsky (a graduate of David Oistrakh).
 

Pedagogical Legacy & International Appointments

Following her postgraduate studies at the prestigious Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Prof. Umnova served for nearly two decades as the Head of the String Department at the Belarusian State Academy of Music.

Based in Germany since 1999, she has become a central figure in the European academic music community. Her illustrious teaching career includes a decade as a Violin Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (2002–2012) and a tenure as a Visiting Professor at the Maastricht Conservatory in the Netherlands (2017–2018). Since 2012, she has held a prestigious professorship at the LUCA School of Arts, Campus Lemmens in Leuven, Belgium. Additionally, she has been a regular faculty member at the "Theodor Leschetizky" International Summer Music Academy in Vienna, Austria, since 2015.

Prof. Umnova’s studio is internationally recognized for its excellence. Her students and graduates are laureates of national and international competitions, leading vibrant professional careers as soloists, chamber musicians, orchestral leaders, and teachers across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
 

Concert Career & Professional Recognition

As a versatile performer, Lilia Umnova frequently appears on the international stage as a soloist and dedicated chamber musician. Her concert geography spans Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, England, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Belarus, and Russia.

Highly esteemed for her artistic authority, she is a frequent jury member at numerous national and international violin competitions and regularly conducts masterclasses across Europe. In 2016, she was elected as a member of the International Academy of Performing Arts and Sciences.