The Program

Bach: Sonata in A Minor, BWV 1003
Hartmann: Solo Sonata No. 1
Hartmann: Solo Sonata No. 2
Bach: Partita in D Minor BWV 1004

The Artists

One of the most significant violinists of his generation, Thomas Zehetmair is highly respected as a violinist, conductor and chamber musician.  Born into a musical family in Salzburg, he studied violin with his father at the Mozarteum and made his debut, at the age of 16, at the 1977 Salzburg Festival.  Now a soloist of international standing, he is a regular guest with orchestras including the Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin, Munich and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam, and the Gewandhaus Orchester Lepizig.   In 1994 Zehetmair formed the Zehetmair Quartet, with whom he has recorded string quartets by Hartmann and Bartok. Their recording of the Schumann quartets received the "Diapason D’Or de L’Annee" and the "Gramophone Recording of the Year" in 2003.  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, and he has also made guest appearances with numerous European orchestras.  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.