Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, violinist FRANK PETER ZIMMERMANN began playing at the age of five and had already given his first concert with an orchestra by age ten. After studies with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawiloff, and Hermann Krebbers, Zimmermann began the career that would eventually place him among the world’s elite musicians. He has performed at all of the important festivals and with all of the famous orchestras and conductors in both the Old and the New World.

Last season, Zimmermann was a guest with some of the world’s great orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, the Pittsburgh Symphony under Mariss Jansons, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra with both Wolfgang Sawallisch and Christoph von Dohnányi, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Riccardo Chailly, the Orchestra of Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, and the Staatskapelle Dresden under Bernard Haitink. He also made a recital tour of Germany with cellist Heinrich Schiff and pianist Christian Zacharias and gave the world premiere of Mattias Pintscher’s Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic last February.

As an EMI Classics exclusive artist, Zimmermann has recorded all of the great violin concertos from Bach to Berg. Chamber music is another cornerstone of his discography. Recently, Zimmermann recorded Eugène Ysaÿe’s six solo violin sonatas, a disc that received the Caecilia Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque, and the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. He has also recorded Ligeti’s Violin Concerto for Teldec’s on-going project devoted to the composer.

Frank Peter Zimmermann plays a Stradivarius dating from 1711 that once belonged to the great violinist Fritz Kreisler. The instrument has been put at Zimmermann’s disposal by the West German Landesbank.