Frank Peter Zimmermann

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely recognised as one of the foremost violinists of his generation, praised for his selfless musicality, his technical brilliance and keen intelligence. For more than four decades he has been working with the world’s major orchestras and renowned conductors. His many concert engagements take him to all important concert venues and international music festivals in Europe, the United States, Asia, South America and Australia.

Highlights in 2025 and 2026 include(d) appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris all conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, a Paris residency with both the Orchestre National and Orchestre Philharmonique de France with Cristian Măcelaru and Alain Altinoglu, Staatskapelle Dresden and Daniele Gatti, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Rafael Payare, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Alain Altinoglu, Wiener Symphoniker and Robert Trevino, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Alan Gilbert, Filarmonica della Scala and Daniele Gatti, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Eun Sun Kim, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Anja Bihlmaier, as well as performances in China with the orchestras in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong with Long Yu. Together with pianist Dmytro Choni he gives recitals in, among others, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Vienna.

Over the years Mr. Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography for BIS Records, Warner Classics, Sony Classical, hänssler CLASSIC, Ondine, Decca, Teldec Classics and ECM Records. He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, as well as recital repertoire. Many of these highly acclaimed recordings have received prestigious awards and prizes worldwide. Most recent releases on BIS Records include a first duo album with Dmytro Choni with works by Bartók and Szymanowski, the Stravinsky violin concerto, coupled with Martinů’s Suite concertante and Bartók’s Rhapsodies nos. 1 and 2 with the Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša, the complete sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach and the complete sonatas for piano and violin by Beethoven with Martin Helmchen.

He received numerous special prizes and honours, among which the “Premio del Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena” (1990), the “Rheinischer Kulturpreis” (1994), the “Musikpreis” of the city of Duisburg (2002), the “Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (2008) and the “Paul-Hindemith-Preis der Stadt Hanau” (2010). 

In 2010 he founded the Trio Zimmermann with viola player Antoine Tamestit and cellist Christian Poltéra; the trio performed in all major music centres and festivals in Europe for well over a decade. BIS Records released award-winning CD recordings of works for string trio by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg and Hindemith.

Mr. Zimmermann has given world premieres of Magnus Lindberg’s violin concerto no. 2, Matthias Pintscher’s violin concerto “en sourdine”, Brett Dean’s violin concerto “The Lost Art of Letter Writing” and of Augusta Read Thomas’ violin concerto no. 3 “Juggler in Paradise”.

Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, he started playing the violin when he was 5 years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10. He studied with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers.

Frank Peter Zimmermann plays on the 1711 Antonio Stradivari violin “Lady Inchiquin”, which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, “Kunst im Landesbesitz”.