Thomas Zehetmair

Austrian violinist Thomas Zehetmair studied with his father at the Salzburg Mozarteum and made his debut in 1977 at the age of 16 performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto in A major at the Salzburg Festival; in the following year he was awarded First Prize at the International Mozart Competition. Along with familiar works of the violin repertory, Zehetmair dedicates much of his time to contemporary music. He has given the world premieres of numerous compositions, including violin concertos by Heinz Holliger, James Dillon, and Hans-Jürgen von Bose. Zehetmair regularly appears with the leading European and American orchestras and has performed under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph von Dohnányi, John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Charles Mackerras, Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 1994 he founded his own ensemble, the Zehetmair Quartet, with whom he has recorded works by Bartók, Hartmann, and Schumann. Along with his appearances as a violin virtuoso, Zehetmair is also an active conductor; since the 2002-03 season he has held the position of Music Director of the Northern Sinfonia, and in 2010 he became Artistic Partner of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has additionally conducted the London and Rotterdam Philharmonics, the Hallé Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, and the RSO Helsinki. Zehetmair’s extensive discography has garnered numerous awards. In 2005 he was honored with the German Record Critics’ Award and in 2007 with the Karl Böhm Performance Award of the State of Styria. Thomas Zehetmair holds an honorary doctorate from the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar.

LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut as part of the Young Artists series on 20 August 1978 in works by Leclair, Mozart, Schubert, and Ravel.

August 2011