Education
At the age of 13, she studied viola with Ulrich Koch at the Conservatory of Freiburg and progressed to study with Sándor Végh at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg.
music educator university professor violist
At the age of 13, she studied viola with Ulrich Koch at the Conservatory of Freiburg and progressed to study with Sándor Végh at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg.
She began learning to play the viola at the age of three, and commenced piano studies at age five. She soon gained notice in international competitions, winning first prizes in Genève (1982), Budapest (1984), and the Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition in Paris (1983) for which she was awarded a superb instrument made by contemporary luthier Étienne Vatelot (1980) which she has played in her worldwide concert tours ever since. As a soloist she has performed with numerous major orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the British Broadcasting Corporation Philharmonic, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, under the baton of noted conductors including Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, Christoph Eschenbach, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and others
Tabea Zimmermann is likewise actively involved in chamber music, having performed with Gidon Kremer (violin), Heinz Holliger (oboist and composer), Hartmut Höll (piano), Steven Isserlis (cello), and Pamela Frank (violin) at numerous festivals.
She has devoted a significant part of her chamber career to the Arcanto Quartet, formed with violinists Antje Weithaas and Daniel Sepec and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. Other contemporary composers who have written works for her include Heinz Holliger, Wolfgang Rihm, Georges Lentz, Bruno Mantovani, Sally Beamish and Josef Tal.
Since 2002, Tabea Zimmermann has been a professor of viola and chamber music at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. Previously she was on the faculty of the Saarbrücken Music Academy (1987-1989) and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (1994-2002).
She is the widow of conductor David Shallon (1950-2000).
North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences and Arts.