Thomas Zehetmair enjoys wide international acclaim as a violinist as well as a conductor. He is Principal Conductor of Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Irish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestre National d’Auvergne.

Zehetmair has received much inspiration from his work as a soloist with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Frans Brüggen, David Zinman, Daniel Barenboim Sir Simon Rattle and Paavo Järvi. As a conductor he has appeared with orchestras including London Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Eighteenth-Century, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hamburger Philharmoniker, Mozarteum Orchester and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. He was Chief Conductor of Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Artistic Partner of St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra and Music Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia with whom he continues his association as Conductor Laureate.

Thomas Zehetmair has an extensive and varied discography as a violinist, conductor and with the Zehetmair Quartet. His recording of the Paganini Caprices attracted a Midem Classic Award and he received Gramophone Awards for his rendition of the Elgar Concerto with Sir Mark Elder, and the Szymanowski concertos with Sir Simon Rattle. A Gramophone Award of the Year and four other international prices were presented to the Zehetmair Quartet for their recording of Schumann quartets.

Zehetmair received an Opus Klassik Award 2020 for his latest CD release of Bach Six Solo Sonatas and Partitas recorded with baroque violin which was also selected by the New York Times as one of “The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019” and by Die Zeit as one of their six favourite recordings of 2019.

The Zehetmair Quartet has been awarded the Paul Hindemith Prize by the City of Hanau for outstanding musical achievement. Thomas Zehetmair was honoured by the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and holds honorary doctorates from the Liszt University in Weimar and Newcastle University.