Frank Peter Zimmermann

Frank Peter Zimmermann (born Duisburg, Germany, February 27, 1965) is a German violinist.

He started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10.

Since he finished his studies with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff, and Herman Krebbers in 1983, Frank Peter Zimmermann has been performing with a considerable number of major orchestras and conductors in the world.

Highlights include engagements with, among others, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Berglund, the National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Leonard Slatkin, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Bernard Haitink, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio and Mariss Jansons.

In February 2003, Frank Peter Zimmermann and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Eötvös gave the world premiere of the violin concerto ‘en sourdine' by the German composer Matthias Pintscher.

Apart from engagements with orchestra, Frank Peter Zimmermann also gives recitals. Since 1998 his regular partner is Italian pianist Enrico Pace. Other regular chamber music partners are Heinrich Schiff and Christian Zacharias. His recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Schiff won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.

For EMI Classics Frank Peter Zimmermann recorded all major violin concertos, as well as many major works for solo violin and for violin and piano. In 2002 Teldec released his recording of the Ligeti violin concerto.

Frank Peter Zimmermann plays a Stradivarius from 1711, which once belonged to Fritz Kreisler, and which is kindly sponsored by the Westdeutsche Landesbank.