Antoine Tamestit

The French violist, Antoine Tamestit, began his music studies in Paris; then went on to study with Jesse Levine at Yale University and with Tabea Zimmermann. He was the recipient of several coveted prizes which launched his career and gave him exposure in the USA and in Europe - the William Primrose Competition and the first prize at the Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions, BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists Scheme, Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2009.

Antoine Tamestit has achieved that rare thing as a violist of playing at the highest level with orchestra and being constantly in demand as a chamber musician and recitalist. His repertoire ranges from the Baroque period to the contemporary, and he has performed and recorded many world premieres. He played George Benjamin's Viola, Viola with Tabea Zimmermann at the Feldkirch Festival before recording it in 2003 for Nimbus Records, and premiered the Concerto for two violas by Bruno Mantovani written for Tabea Zimmermann and himself with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. In 2009, the Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth wrote a concerto for Tamestit which he premiered in Vienna, Berlin, and Tokyo.

Chamber music is an important element of Antoine Tamestit's work and life. He appeared at the 2012 Verbier Festival in chamber music with Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capucon and others and at the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals as part of the string trio with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Christian Poltera. He is a regular guest in both chamber music and recital in major halls across the world - the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, Megaron in Athens, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Konserthus in Stockholm and the Cité de la Musique de Paris. In November 2006 he performed at New York's Lincoln Center - the first time the Center has programmed a viola recital.

Antoine Tamestit has a distinguished discography and is a professor at the Cologne Musikhochschule. He plays on a viola made by Stradivarius in 1672, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.