Swiss-Latvian violinist Ilva Eigus was born in 2007. She received her first violin lesson at the age of three from Liana Tretiakova and continued to study with her at the Zakhar Bron School of Music in Zurich until Summer 2023. Since 2023, Ilva has been mentored by Professor Marc Bouchkov, first as a pre-college student at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, Belgium and, from 2026, at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. Ilva is an honored recipient of scholarships from the Verbier Festival Academy, the Seiji Ozawa Academy, the IMS Prussia Cove in the UK, Liechtenstein Music Academy, Villa Musica Chamber Music Excellence Programme and Music in the Mountains Violin Academy, USA, among others.

 

Ilva's exceptional talent was recognized early on, and she has been taught by the renowned violin professor Zakhar Bron since the age of seven. She has gained further musical inspiration from Gerhard Schulz, Vadim Gluzman, Ingolf Turban, Priya Mitchell, Janine Jansen, Augustin Dumay, Suyoen Kim, Sadao Harada, Marie Chilemme, Nobuko Imai and Sergey Krylov.

 

Ilva made her orchestral debut at the age of eight with the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto. Since then, she has played as a soloist with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Moscow Philharmonic, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Prague Royal Philharmonic, Bodensee Philharmonie Konstanz and Empyrean Orchestra, among others. Ilva was invited to perform in venues such as Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Bolshoi Theatre and the House of Music in Moscow, Château de Chillon in Montreux and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Trans-Siberian Art Festival, Festival de Musique de Menton, Septembre Musical in Montreux-Vevey, Enjoy Jazz FestivalMannheim, Zaubersee Festival Lucerne and Odessa Classics. She is eager to explore contemporary music, having premiered works by Richard Dubugnon, Samy Moussa, Daniel Schnyder and Nik Bärtsch.

 

Ilva is a multiple first prize winner of the Swiss Youth Music Competition and winner of numerous awards at international competitions, including 1st prize at the International Nutcracker Competition (2020), the Rotary Prize at the Verbier Festival (2023), the Swiss Charity Award (2023), 1st prize at the Arthur Grumiaux Violin Competition in Brussels (2024) and 1st prize at the Grunewald Competition in Berlin (2024). In 2025 she was nominated by Echo Arts Munich as Pirastro Young Artist.

 

In 2023, Ilva became an ambassador for the Fondation ART-THERAPIE, which aims to promote art therapy programs for young people in Switzerland. 

 

Ilva plays an Omobono Stradivari from 1707, on generous loan from the Stradivari Stiftung Habisreutinger-Huggler-Coray. She is also supported by Vicenda Women in Performance Initiative.

 

Ilva's playing is characterised by precise intonation, depth and artistic maturity. In her free time, she enjoys reading, photography and sports.

 

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