Biography

Robert Zimansky was born in Iowa City

Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

.

After early studies with John Ferrell at the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

, Zimansky studied at the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with Sally Thomas

Sally Thomas

Sally Gordon Thomas AM was a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, Australia from 1992 - 2009. She was appointed to the Court on 10 August 1992 and was the first female to be appointed a Judge of the Court.-Early life:...

 and Ivan Galamian

Ivan Galamian

Ivan Alexander Galamian was an influential Armenian violin teacher of the twentieth century.He was born in Tabriz, Iran, but his family soon emigrated to Moscow, Russia. Galamian studied violin at the School of the Philharmonic Society there with Konstantin Mostras until his graduation in 1919...

. He came to Europe in 1972 and held 1st Concertmaster positions in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, the Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

 Festival Orchestra, the Zurich Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

. All of these orchestras allowed him the freedom to pursue his solo career.

Robert Zimansky has performed as soloist with many conductors and toured with various chamber music groups. He conducted the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic and the Zurich Academy of Strings. From 1986 to 1992 he was a member of the board of directors of the Swiss “Tonkünstlerverein.” Between 1978 and 2002 he performed regularly in the piano trio with Michael Ponti and Jan Polasek in Europe. Since 2008 Robert Zimansky is a member of the Trio Mersson and artistic director of the Ensemble Fiacorda.

Robert Zimansky has made numerous recordings including his CD of the complete Schumann Sonatas with Christoph Keller, awarded a Grand Prix du Disque de l'Académie Charles Cros in 1986. He is an advocate of unknown repertoire and often plays rarely performed violin concertos from the early 20th century. Many modern composers have dedicated works to him over the years.

Robert Zimansky currently lives in Basel and teaches at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste and the Conservatoire de Genève.

External Links

• Robert Zimansky Web Page