ThomasZehetmair

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  • Conductor
  • Violin

About Thomas

Principal Conductor: Stuttgarter Kammerorchester Principal Conductor: Irish Chamber Orchestra Principal Conductor: Orchestre National d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Conductor Laureate: Royal Northern Sinfonia

Thomas Zehetmair enjoys international acclaim as a violinist, conductor and founding member of Zehetmair Quartet. Thomas received much inspiration from his work as a soloist with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Frans Brüggen, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle and Paavo Järvi.
As a conductor, he has appeared with orchestras including London Philharmonic, The Hallé, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Eighteenth-Century, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hamburger Philharmoniker, Mozarteum Orchester and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.

He was Chief Conductor of Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Artistic Partner of St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra and Music Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Thomas has an extensive and varied discography, including Paganini's Caprices, which won a Midem Classic Award. He received Gramophone Awards for his rendition of the Elgar Concerto with Sir Mark Elder and Szymanowski Concertos with Sir Simon Rattle. A Gramophone Award of the Year and four other international prizes were presented to the Zehetmair Quartet for their recording of Schumann Quartets.

He has more recently been developing his interest in composition and arrangements; compositions of note include his Rondo for violin and cello, "Passacaglia, Burlesque and Chorale" for string trio ( also in a version for string orchestra) and "Variations over a mediaeval theme" for solo viola. He has also completed the 1st movement of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and cello which has been recorded for Decca with the Orchestre National d'Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, and created a 2nd violin part for Prokofiev's Solo Sonata which he recorded for Quartz. His works are published by Schott.

He received an Opus Klassik Award 2020 for his disc of Bach's Six Solo Sonatas and Partitas, recorded with Baroque violin, which was also selected by The New York Times as one of “The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019” and Die Zeit as one of their six favourite recordings of 2019.

Thomas is based in Berlin

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Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

Melanie Moult

Melanie Moult

Associate Director

For contracts, logistics and press:

Fiona Russell

Fiona Russell

Senior Assistant Manager

Representation

General Management with Askonas Holt

Partner managers:
Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Eva Wagner, Astrid Schoerke Kunstlersekretariat
Japan: Chikako Itagaki, Novellette Arts Management

Follow Thomas

Season Highlights

Jun 2025
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem Elizabeth Watts ( soprano) Andrew Foster-Williams (tenor) BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
Sep 2025
Ordway Concert Hall, St Paul
Zehetmair: Passacaglai, Burlesque and Choral for strings Brahms: Concerto for violin and cello Mozart: Symphony no. 41 Steve Copes (violin) Julie Albers (cello) St Paul Chamber Orchestra
Dec 2025
Opera Theatre Clermont-Ferrand
Haydn: Die Schöpfung Sunhae Im (soprano) Jan Petryka (tenor) Thomas E Bauer (bass) Orchestre national d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Feb 2026
Auditorium de Lyon
Szymanowski: Violin Concerto no. 2 Marta Gardolinska (conductor) Orchestre national de Lyon
Apr 2026
The Glasshouse, Gateshead
Sibelius: Finlandia Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 Thomas Zehetmair ( violin and conductor) Royal Northern Sinfonia
May 2026
Seoul Arts Center
Britten: Simple Symphony Haydn: Cello Concerto in C A Park: broken satellites Tchaikovsky: Serenade Orchestre national d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Sung-Won Yang (cello)

Photos

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Sample Programmes

  • Solo Bach

    J. S Bach: Solo Sonatas & Partitas Sonata No. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 Sonata No.2 in A minor BWV 1003 Partita No.2 in D minor BWV 1004 Sonata No. 3 in C major BWV 1005 Partita No.3 in E major BWV 1006

  • Solo

    Biber: Passacaglia in G minor Zimmermann: Sonata for solo violin Hartmann: Sonata No.1 for solo violin interval Bach: Partita No.2 in D minor BWV 1004

  • With Pierre-Laurant Aimard, piano

    Schubert: Duo in A major Webern: Vier Stücke Schubert: Rondo Brilliant in B minor interval Schönberg: Fantasie Schubert: Fantasie

  • with Ruth Killius, viola

    Skalkottas: Duo Mozart: Duo in G major KV423 Holliger: Drei Skizzen interval Mozart: Duo in B flat major KV424 Martinu: Madrigale or Klein: Duo for violin and viola Zimmermann: Sonata for violin solo "Hommage a Bach" (1951) Bartok: choice from "44 Duos" (1931) Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola in B flat major KV424

  • Trio with Ruth Killius, viola and Daniel Haefliger, cello

    Beethoven: String Trio in D major Op.9/2 T Zehetmair: Passacaglia, Burleske and Choral for string trio interval Martinu: String Trio No.1 H136 Beethoven: String Trio in C minor Op.9/3

News

Press

  • Scottish Chamber Orchestra

    Queens Hall Edinburgh
    Oct 2021

    • Zehetmair’s high-energy, high-impact approach really came into its own in the concert’s closer, Haydn’s “Oxford” Symphony, from a shapely, stylish slow movement (with supple, sculpted contributions from principal flautist André Cebrián), to a boisterious (sic) minuet and trio that would have made its dancers break a sweat.

  • Seattle Symphony

    Benaroya Hall
    Jan 2020

    • Zehetmair displayed great dynamic contrast between exuberance and delicacy. The effect was invigorating and provided an exuberant ending to the evening.

  • Bach: solo sonatas and partitas

    recording
    Dec 2019

    • ...it is the more reflective episodes, beautifully veiled and intimate, that one remembers, while in the sonatas the contrapuntal detail is perfectly transparent, without ever being over-articulated. Some may prefer a more demonstrative approach to these perpetually fascinating pieces, but Zehetmair’s thoughtfulness is hugely rewarding in its own right.

    • The G minor sonata’s Presto Finale and the B minor Partita’s Presto Double finds Zehetmair’s virtuosity completely intact, together with newfound ferocity and abandon. An intelligent, inquiring mind and spirit informs these interpretations, for all of their quirks and provocative moments.

  • St Paul Chamber orchestra

    Jun 2017

    • Thomas Zehetmair might have been born to conduct Beethoven's Seventh Symphony: His wiry dynamism is perfectly suited to its teemingly bacchanalian energies...The concert opened with Mendelssohn's Overture "The Fair Melusina." In Zehetmair's intense conception, this emerged as a mini-drama of contending emotions, the gently rippling figurations of the water sprite offsetting the bluntly priapic music of the knight she fatefully marries.

  • Schumann Violin Concerto

    Recording
    Mar 2016

    • Schumann’s Violin Concerto has a tricky history. It was composed in 1853 but deemed so weird at the time that it wasn’t performed until 1937, when it was hijacked for Nazi propaganda. Nowadays, advocates such as Thomas Zehetmair give the troubled and soulful piece the love it deserves. He first recorded it for Teldec in 1988 and recently helped prepare a new urtext edition – sorting out centuries of editorial meddling. His new account is warmer, more declamatory, more openly glorious in lyrical passages.

Discography