Antoine Tamestit studied with Jean Sulem at the Paris Conservatory, at Yale University with Jesse Levine and the Tokyo String Quartet, and with Tabea Zimmermann in Berlin. He won the first prize at the Maurice Vieux Competition (Paris, 2000), the William Primrose Competition (Chicago, 2001), the Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions and the 53rd ARD Munich International Music Competition. He was a BBC New Generation Artist 2004-2006. He is a laureate of Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award 2006 and the Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2008. A passionate chamber musician, he plays with artists such as Gidon Kremer, Emmanuel Pahud, Mischa Maisky, Paul Meyer, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Nicholas Angelich, the Ebène and Hagen Quartets. He regularly plays in trio with Frank-Peter Zimmermann and Christian Poltéra. Antoine Tamestit has worked with the BBC Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Sinfonie Orchester, the Dresden, Munich, Frankfurt and Leipzig Gewandhaus, BBC Scottish, BBC Wales, Lyon and Toulouse orchestras. In 2008, he made his debuts at the Lucerne Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Riccardo Muti. The composer Olga Neuwirth wrote for him a concerto which was premiered in Berlin (Deutsche Sinfonie Orchestra), Graz and Vienna (Austrian Radio Orchestra). He will soon perform with the Netherlands Phiharmonic, the Tonkünstler Orchester in Vienna, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Orchestre de Paris. For Ambroisie/Naïve, he recorded a recital CD of Bach/Ligeti and Schnittke’s Concerto with Warsaw Philharmonic and D. Kitajenko. He recently released Schubert’s Trout with Christian Teztlaff, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Alois Posch and Martin Helmchen (Pentaton) and a Schubert recital for Ambroisie/Naïve. Antoine Tamestit is professor at the Cologne Musikhochschule. He plays on a viola made by Stradivarius in 1672, lent by the Habisreutinger Foundation.

Last updated: February 2010

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"spectacular work... a noisy tangle of tweed and punk, solildly worked, but with surprising threads and colours."
Christiane Tewinkel, Tagesspiegel, 2nd Feb 2010

"The work is entirely original, astoundingly complex and, ultimately, gloriously rewarding and uplifting."
Larry L. Lash, MusicalAmerica.com, 08 Dec 2009

"Antoine Tamestit played it with virtuosity and a heartwarming tone"
Salzburger Nachrichtung, 12th Oct 2009

Project: World premiere performance of Olga Neuwirth Remnants of Song... An Amphigory, viola concerto co-commissioned by BBT.

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 "This is a marvellous disc, one of the most enjoyable I have heard in a long time... a great line-up of soloists, who seem to know one another very well, or to have clicked miraculously, with results that, in the case of the 'Trout' Quintet, are more completely satisfactory than any account I have ever heard of this work."
BBC Music Magazine, July 2009

Project: Pentatone recording of Schubert's Trout Quintet, a collaboration between BBT Award Winners Martin Helmchen, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Antoine Tamestit, with BBT Honorary Committee member Christian Tetzlaff violin, plus Alois Posch double bass

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"Tamestit's lively, historically informed manner extends through the earlier movements of the Partita, the rhythmic character of each dance emerging with great clarity. The performance of the Ligeti – a magnificent, enthralling piece that's already emerged as a peak of the viola repertoire - is extraordinarily clean and accurate."
Duncan Druce, Gramophone August 2007

Project: Bach Ligeti CD (Ambroisie AM111)

• Recordings for Ambrosie
• Co-commissioning Viola Concerto by Olga Neuwirth
• Instrument insurance

Artist Website

www.tamestit.org

General Management

Jacques Thélen at Agence Artistique Jacques Thélen
telephone: +33 1 56 89 32 00
jthelen@wanadoo.fr
www.jacquesthelen.com

Alexandra Ploussard at Agence Artistique Jacques Thélen
telephone: +33 1 56 89 32 00
alexandra.jthelen@wanadoo.fr
www.jacquesthelen.com