Tabea Zimmermann

Several composers have written music for her, including György Ligeti (the Viola Sonata), and she has made her own version of Bartók's Viola Concerto from the composer's sketches. Zimmermann is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and gives master classes at the Kronberg Academy and elsewhere. Her awards include the 2020 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.

Tabea Zimmermann studied at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and Mozarteum University Salzburg. The recorded working language is German and Hebrew. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Residence is recorded at Berlin and Bochum. Employment is recorded with Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and Hanns Eisler Music School Berlin. Distinctions recorded are Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia, Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg, Geneva International Music Competition and Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

• Name — Tabea Zimmermann • Born — 8 October 1966 • Birthplace — Lahr, Baden-Württemberg, Germany • Occupation — * Classical violist • Academic teacher • Organizations — * Arcanto Quartet • Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin • Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts • Kronberg Academy • Awards — Ernst von Siemens Music Prize • Website — http: www.tabeazimmermann.de

Born in Lahr on 8 October 1966, Zimmermann began learning the viola at age three, and commenced piano studies at age five. At age 13, she studied viola with Ulrich Koch at the Freiburg Conservatory and progressed to study with Sándor Végh at the Mozarteum of Salzburg. She soon gained notice in international competitions, winning first prizes in Geneva (1982), the Budapest International Viola Competition (1984), and the Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition in Paris (1983), for which she was awarded an instrument by contemporary luthier Étienne Vatelot (1980). Since 2019, she has been playing an instrument built for her by Patrick Robin. As a soloist, Zimmermann has performed with major orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and with conductors including Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1992 she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, performing Bartók's Viola Concerto. She often performed Tibor Serly's version of the piece, but after studying the original sketches in 1994, she prepared her own version. She played her version in the final concert of the 2023 Kronberg Festival at the Casals Forum, with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Zimmermann has been artist in residence, at the Kunstfest Weimar in 2008, in Luxembourg in 2009, in Hamburg in 2010, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and in the 2022/23 season the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. • Illustration — Zimmermann (center of 2nd row) after leading Bartok's Divertimento with Ensemble Resonanz, 2025 Zimmermann is also devoted to chamber music, having performed with Gidon Kremer, Lars Vogt, Hartmut Höll, Steven Isserlis, Javier Perianes, and Pamela Frank at numerous festivals. In 2004, she co-founded the Arcanto Quartet with Antje Weithaas, Daniel Sepec, and Jean-Guihen Queyras. The quartet played together until 2016. She has also collaborated with the Ensemble Resonanz. Committed to 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, Zimmermann premiered Ligeti's Viola Sonata, which was written for her, on 23 April 1994 in Gütersloh. Other works written for her include Heinz Holliger's Recicanto for viola and orchestra, Wolfgang Rihm's Viola Concerto No. 2 "Über die Linie IV", Monhby Georges Lentz, Frank Michael Beyer's Notte di pasqua and Bruno Mantovani's Concerto for Two Violas that she played with Antoine Tamestit. Sally Beamish, Enno Poppe, and Josef Tal also wrote music for her.

Zimmermann was married to the conductor David Shallon until his death in 2000; they had two sons. Her second husband is the American conductor Steven Sloane; they have a daughter.