Born in 1961, Thomas Zehetmair is one of the most distinguished violinists on the international music scene.
A musician by birth, he is the son of two violinists and professors at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He began studying the violin with his father Helmut at the age of seven and later continued his training at the Mozarteum, where he earned his diploma. He then pursued further specialization under the guidance of Nathan Milstein, Max Rostal, and Franz Samohyl.
He made his debut at the Salzburg Festival at the age of 16 and subsequently embarked on a prestigious international career, regularly performing with leading orchestras in Europe and America, under conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Kent Nagano.
In 1994, Zehetmair founded the Zehetmair Quartet. In addition to performing works from the standard violin repertoire, he collaborates extensively with contemporary composers, including Hans-Jürgen von Bose, Cesar Bresgen, James Dillon, Heinz Holliger, Giya Kancheli, and Erwin Koch-Raphael.
Since the late 1990s, he has also developed a successful parallel career as a conductor, earning numerous accolades and distinctions in this role as well.
