Thomas Zehetmair
Thomas Zehetmair has been called one of the most significant violinists of his generation, enjoying a successful international career as a soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. In Europe, Zehetmair is a regular guest of numerous orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Leipzig Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Munich Chamber, among others. He also performs with the NHK Tokyo Orchestra, as well as the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra in the U.S.Besides Zehetmair's commitment to the standard violin repertoire, he dedicates a large part of his artistic activities to contemporary music. He has given a number of first performances, most recently the violin concertos of Heinz Holliger, James Dillon, Hans-Jürgen von Bose, and Hans Christian Bartel.
In 1994 Zehetmair formed the internationally acclaimed Zehetmair Quartet, with whom he has recorded works by Hartmann, Hindemith, Bartók, and Schumann. The quartet's 2003 recordings of Schumann works received the Gramophone Award and the Diapason d'Or de l'Année.
Zehetmair has recorded nearly the entire violin repertoire on CD. In 1997 he won a Gramophone Award for his recording of the Szymanowski Violin Concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. His recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Romances with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century is also highly praised.
More recently Zehetmair launched a second career as a conductor. During the 2002/2003 season he took up his appointment as music director of England's Northern Sinfonia. He has also made guest appearances with numerous European orchestras, including the Camerata Academica Salzburg, the Chamber Orchestras of Vienna and Munich, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Sinfonie Orchester Leipzig, Ensemble Orchestral Paris, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, among others. He maintains a close association with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
In 2005 Zehetmair was awarded the "Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik" for his versatile artistic work as soloist, conductor, and chamber musician. He also received the "Karl-Böhm-Interpretationspreis des Landes Steiermark" during a ceremony at Graz Castle in 2007. Zehetmair holds an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy Franz Liszt in Weimar.
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