Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely regarded as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. He has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, among which the Berlin Philharmonic with whom he made his debut in 1985 with Daniel Barenboim; the Vienna Philharmonic with whom he played for the first time in 1983 with Lorin Maazel in Salzburg; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all London orchestras, as well as all big American orchestras. He is a regular guest at all major music festivals, such as Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne. Together with Antoine Tamestit (viola) and Christian Poltéra (cello) he founded the Trio Zimmermann. In recent years he has been giving recitals with pianist Martin Helmchen and during the 2021/22 season they are performing the complete or partial Beethoven sonata cycle in various major cities in Europe. BIS Records has meanwhile released the complete cycle on 3 CDs.
Over the years Frank Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography for EMI Classics, Sony Classical, BIS, Ondine, Hänssler, Decca, Teldec and ECM. He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, Dean and Pintscher; the six solo sonatas of Ysaÿe; the 24 Caprices of Paganini and the complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano by J.S. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Many of these highly acclaimed recordings have received prestigious awards and prizes worldwide. Most recent releases include the two violin concertos of Martinů with the Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša, coupled with the solo sonata of Bartók (BIS); the two violin concertos of Shostakovich with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Alan Gilbert (BIS; nominated for a Grammy Award.
Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, he started learning playing the violin with his mother when he was 5 years old. He studied with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers. He plays on the 1711 Antonius Stradivari violin "Lady Inchiquin”, which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, "Kunst im Landesbesitz".