Laurent Korcia was born in Paris in November 1964 and, under the guidance of Pierre Barbizet from an early age, entered the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique when he was thirteen, studying there under Michele Auclair. He won the Paganini Competition in Genoa in 1983, which brought him the honour of playing Paganini's own Guarnerius violin, and in 1984 took the third Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris. In 1990 he won the Young Concert Artist award in London, after triumph in 1989, when he won the first prize in the Zino Francescatti Competition. His career has brought concert engagements with major orchestras in Europe, Japan, China, Australia and the Middle East and he has won particular praise for his recording of the unaccompanied violin sonatas of Ysaÿe.
