Frank Peter Zimmermann is a German violinist born February 27, 1965, in Duisburg, Germany. He began playing violin at age five and gave his first public concert at 10. He won the competition Jugend musiziert at age 11 and studied under Valery Gradow, Saschko Gawriloff, and Herman Krebbers. Zimmermann debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1981, performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, and made his United States debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1984. He has performed with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, and Bernard Haitink, and collaborated with chamber partners Enrico Pace, Christian Zacharias, and cellist Heinrich Schiff, whose joint recording of Johannes Brahms' Double Concerto received the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. His honors include the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st Class (2008), the Paul-Hindemith-Preis (2010), the Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (2013), and an Echo Klassik for Paul Hindemith: Violin Sonatas & Concerto (2014). He releases recordings on labels including Hänssler Classic and BIS Records.
