Tabea Zimmermann

Arguably the finest violist in the world today, Tabea Zimmermann owes her success not only to her exceptional talent, but also to the support of her parents, thorough training by excellent teachers, and a tireless enthusiasm to communicate her understanding and love of music to her audience.

Tabea Zimmermann started to learn the viola at the age of three, and two years later began playing the piano. She studied with Ulrich Koch at the Musikhochschule Freiburg and subsequently with Sandor Vegh at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Following her studies, she received several awards at international competitions, amongst them first prizes at the 1982 Geneva International Competition and the 1984 Budapest International Competition. As a result of winning the 1983 Maurice Vieux Competition in Paris, she received a viola by the contemporary maker Etienne Vatelot on which she has been performing ever since.

Tabea Zimmermann has inspired many composers to write for the viola and has introduced many new works into the standard concert and chamber music repertoire. In April 1994, she gave a highly successful world premiere of the Sonata for Solo Viola by György Ligeti, a work composed especially for her. She premiered also Recicanto for Viola and Orchestra by Heinz Holliger with WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Über die Linie IV by Wolfgang Rihm with Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Monh by George Lentz with Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, and Notte di pasqua by Frank Michael Beyer with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

The Arcanto Quartet, with violinists Antje Weithaas and Daniel Sepec and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, continues to be a special focus for Tabea Zimmermann’s chamber music activities. After a highly successful concert debut in Stuttgart in June 2004, they have taken the chamber music world by storm, giving debut concerts at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, Wigmore Hall London, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Conservatoire Royal Brussels, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and others, as well as Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and the festivals of Edinburgh, Helsinki and Montreux.

Numerous CDs for EMI, Teldec and Deutsche Grammophon document Tabea Zimmermann’s artistry. Ars Musici released a recording of the concert where she plays Beethoven’s own viola at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, accompanied by Hartmut Höll. She has also recorded a duo recital CD for Capriccio with works by Schumann with Hartmut Höll. Her latest concerto releases are a live recording of Berlioz's Harold in Italy under Sir Colin Davis with London Symphony Orchestra for LSO live and a recording of Bloch’s Suite for Viola and Orchestra with Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin under Steven Sloane for Capriccio. Also on the Capriccio label, a recording by Antje Weithaas and Tabea Zimmermann, with duo works by Mozart and Spohr, appeared in autumn 2006 and has been nominated for the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.

Tabea Zimmermann has received several national and international awards for her outstanding artistic contributions. These include Hessischer Kulturpreis, Frankfurter Musikpreis and International Prize Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Sienna. In January 2006, she was awarded the Paul Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau in recognition of her outstanding contribution in promoting the music of Paul Hindemith.