ON THIS DAY

Happy Birthday, Frank Peter Zimmermann!

February 27, 2021

2 MIN READ

A student of Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebber, he is widely regarded as one of today’s foremost concert violinists

Today is German violin virtuoso Frank Peter Zimmermann’s 59th birthday!

Born in Duisburg, West Germany on February 27, 1965, Zimmermann started studying the violin when he was five years old with his mother. His first public appearance with orchestra was at the age of 10.

After completing further studies with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers in 1983, Zimmermann has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, collaborating on these occasions with the world's most renowned conductors for over three decades.

With the Berliner Philharmoniker, Zimmermann has premiered violin concertos by Matthias Pintscher and Magnus Lindberg.

In 2010, he founded the Trio Zimmermann alongside viola player Antoine Tamestit and cellist Christian Poltéra. This trio captivated audiences across Europe, performing at major music centers and festivals for well over a decade. Their CD recordings of works for string trio by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Hindemith, released by BIS Records, garnered critical acclaim and awards.

Zimmermann is also a recipient of an Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class.

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