Antoine Tamestit

viola

Antoine Tamestit opened the 2025–26 season at the Tanglewood Music Festival in a recital with Leonidas Kavakos, Yo-Yo Ma, and Emanuel Ax, followed by returns to London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. As a chamber musician, Antoine performs regularly with Emmanuel Ax, Martin Fröst, Leonidas Kavakos, Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Pahud, Yuja Wang, Shai Wosner, and the Quatuor Ébène.

A passionate advocate for new music, Antoine believes that performing contemporary works is essential to keeping the viola repertoire vibrant and evolving, an artistic responsibility he embraces as both an interpreter and a collaborator. Recent premieres include Marko Nikodijevi?’s Psalmodija with the SWR Symphonieorchester and Francesco Filidei’s Viola Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he has premiered major contemporary works by Jörg Widmann, Thierry Escaich, Bruno Mantovani, Gérard Tamestit, and Olga Neuwirth.

An ardent educator, Antoine Tamestit served for ten years as Programming Director of Viola Space Festival in Japan, where he focused on expanding the viola repertoire and creating diverse educational initiatives. Previously, he held professorships at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and the Paris Conservatoire, and he currently teaches at the Kronberg Academy.

Born in Paris, Antoine studied with Jean Sulem, Jesse Levine, and Tabea Zimmermann. In 2022, he received the prestigious triennial Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau in recognition of his contribution to contemporary landscape within classical music. Antoine plays on the very first viola made by Antonio Stradivarius in 1672, generously loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation. For more information, visit antoinetamestit.com.