Antoine Tamestit

Biography

Noted for his profound, natural musicianship and his rich, burnished sound, Antoine Tamestit is one of today’s most sought-after violists.

He is invited to perform with the best international orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian and Danish Radio Orchestras, the Stockholm Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Vienna, Radio France, the Netherlands and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhaus of Leipzig, the Zurich Tonhalle and the BBC Orchestras.

A passionate chamber musician, he has founded and plays with the (string) Trio Zimmermann with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Christian Poltera as well as a trio (clarinet, viola and piano) with Jörg Widmann and Francesco Piemontesi. Other chamber partners include Cédric Tiberghien, Leonidas Kavakos, Christian Tetzlaff, Emmanuel Pahud, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Gautier Capuçon, Emmanuel Ax, Gidon Kremer, Nicholas Angelich and Martin Fröst as well as the Ebène and Hagen quartets.

His wide repertoire extends from baroque to contemporary music. Jörg Widmann wrote for him his Viola Concerto and entrusted him with the premiere. Antoine Tamestit also played Viola, Viola by George Benjamin and premiered Remnants of Songs by Olga Neuwirth. Together with Tabea Zimmermann, he participated in the premiere of the Concerto for two violas by Bruno Mantovani.

He is joint artistic director with Nobuko Imai of the Viola Space Festival in Tokyo.

Born in Paris, he studied with Jean Sulem, Jesse Levine and Tabea Zimmermann. He is the recipient of several first international prizes, including the William Primrose, Young Concert Artists, ARD in Munich, and Credit Suisse Young Artists.

Antoine Tamestit plays on the Stradivarius Viola "Mahler" of 1672, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.