Mihaela Martin received her first violin lessons from her father when she was five years old. She then studied with Stefan Gheorghiu. In 1978, she won the II prize at the International Tchaikowsky Competition in Moscow, followed by victories at the international competitions in Montreal, Sion, Brussels, and I prize at the of International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. She has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

She has worked with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Charles Dutoit and Neeme Järvi. She has performed not only as a soloist but also as a member of chamber ensembles at music festivals in Italy, Norway, UK, France, Israel, Germany, Greece, Romania and Switzerland.

Mihaela Martin is a professor of music at the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève and also gives master classes around the world. She is a permanent member of the jury of such prestigious international competitions as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), the George Enescu (Romania), Tchaikowsky (Russia), and Indianapolis (USA). She plays on a 1748 J.B. Guadanini violin.