Thomas Zehetmair (born 23 November 1961) is an Austrian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and conductor.

Biography

Zehetmair was born in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, and studied at the

Salzburg Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

, where both of his parents taught. His festival debut was at age 16. He was in master classes with

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...

and

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

. In 1994, Zehetmair formed a string quartet which bears his name. The Zehetmair Quartet performs all works entirely from memory, and learns one new programme a year. Zehetmair has made several recordings for ECM, both as soloist and with his quartet. Zehetmair later developed a parallel career in conducting. In November 2001, he was named Music Director and chief conductor of the

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the o ...

(now the Royal Northern Sinfonia), his first conducting post, starting with the 2002–2003 season, for an initial contract of 3 years and 6 weeks of concerts each season. In August 2005, he extended his contract for another 3 years through 2008. He concluded his music directorship of the Royal Northern Sinfonia after the 2013–2014 season, and now has the title of conductor laureate with the orchestra. He became an Artistic Partner of the

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in 2010. In June 2015, the

Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur The Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur is a Swiss symphony orchestra based in Winterthur, Switzerland at its namesake venue, the Musikkollegium Winterthur. The orchestra performs around 60 concerts a year, and in addition to orchestra concerts, p ...

announced the appointment of Zehetmair as its next principal conductor, effective September 2016, with an initial contract of 3 seasons. He is scheduled to conclude his Winterthur tenure at the close of the 2020–2021 season. In October 2017, the

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) is a German chamber orchestra based in Stuttgart. Its principal concert venue is the Liederhalle, Stuttgart. History Karl Münchinger founded the orchestra in 1945, and served as its ...

announced the appointment of Zehetmair as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. In March 2021, the Orchestre national d'Auvergne announced the appointment of Zehetmair as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2021–2022 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. Since May 2022, he has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Partner of the

Irish Chamber Orchestra The Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is an Irish classical music ensemble, administratively based at the University of Limerick. János Fürst founded the ICO in 1963. The ICO consisted only of strings as its regular ensemble for many years, adding wi ...

. Zehetmair is married to the violist Ruth Killius, who is also a member of the Zehetmair Quartet. He holds honorary doctorates from the Music Academy Franz Liszt in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

and

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

References

External links

Askonas Holt agency biography

2008 Brochure on The Sage, Gateshead

Newcastle University honours Thomas Zehetmair with honorary doctorate in Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zehetmair, Thomas Austrian classical violinists Male classical violinists Male conductors (music) Austrian expatriates in the United Kingdom Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni 1961 births Living people Musicians from Salzburg 21st-century Austrian conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century male musicians 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Austrian male musicians