David Garrett was born in 1980 in Aachen, Germany, to a German father and American mother, and began violin at age five. He studied at the Lübeck Conservatoire from age seven, worked with Ida Haendel from age twelve, and later attended the Juilliard School (1999-2004) under Itzhak Perlman. At thirteen he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, becoming the youngest soloist ever to do so.

Garrett has built a career bridging classical and crossover repertoire, performing at venues including the BBC Proms and the UEFA Champions League Final, and starring as Paganini in the 2013 film The Devil’s Violinist. He held the Guinness World Record for “World’s Fastest Violinist” (2008-2011) and has released more than twenty albums, making him one of the best-known classical-crossover violinists internationally.