Germany’s Hindemith Prize Announces 2022 Winner

With the award, French violist Antoine Tamestit has been endowed with a €10,000 cash prize

The Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau has been awarded every three years since 2000. The award is named in honor of German composer, violist, and conductor Paul Hindemith, who hailed from Hanau.

As the 2022 winner of the award, 43-year-old violist Antoine Tamestit will sign the Golden Book of the City of Hanau plus receive a silver plaque and €10,000 from Hanau’s Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky.

Born in Paris in 1979, Tamestit studied with Jean Sulem, Jesse Levine, and Tabea Zimmermann. A frequent performer of Hindemith’s works, Tamestit has also made highly acclaimed recordings of them with ensembles such as Trio Zimmermann and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra with Paavo Järvi.

Between 2007 and 2013, Tamestit was appointed professor for viola at the Cologne University of Music and Dance and has been teaching at the Paris Conservatory since October 2013. He is also co-art director of Japan’s Viola Space Festival, which has a particular focus on Hindemith’s compositions. 

He plays an Étienne Vatelot viola and the 1672 “Mahler” viola by Antonio Stradivari, loaned by the Stradivari Foundation-Habisreutinger.

“Tamestit is known for his unsurpassed technique and the celebrated beauty of his colorful viola tone,” said Hindemith Foundation president, Andrew Eckhardt. “He is a guest with leading orchestras around the world and works regularly with well-known conductors,” he continued. “His wide-ranging repertoire ranges from the Baroque period to the present; his openness to contemporary music is reflected in numerous world premieres and recordings of new works.”

Past winners of the award include Albert Mangelsdorff, Rolf Riehm, Daniel Barenboim, Tabea Zimmermann, Gerd Albrecht, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Paavo Järvi, the Zehetmair String Quartet, Christoph Eschenbach, and Olli Mustonen.