Violin master class - Deborah Nemtanu

Deborah Nemtanu

After winning first prize in 2001 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris, she went on to win numerous international awards: the Maurice Ravel Academy Prize, participation in the Perlman Program (USA), second prize in the Benjamin Britten Competition in London, crowned by a concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

At just 20 years of age, she was appointed principal violinist of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, a position of great responsibility that she still holds today. In this capacity, she performs regularly as a soloist at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, establishing relationships of deep trust with conductors such as Lars Vogt, Andris Nelsons, Juraj Valčuha, Maxim Emelyanychev, Daniel Harding, and Sir Roger Norrington.

With her freshness and musical freedom, Deborah Nemtanu is increasingly distinguishing herself in conducted performances, renewing concert traditions by promoting dynamic interaction between musicians and audiences.

She has conducted Mozart symphonies at the Hôtel Sully in Paris and the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, and more recently at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

As a soloist, she has performed at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest and the Augsburg Festival under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington.

An eclectic chamber musician, including the viola and folk music, she performs with artists as delightful as they are open-minded, such as Vilde Frang, Tabea Zimerman, Kristian Tetzlaff, Emmanuel Pahud, François Leleux, Fazil Say, Thomas Enhco, Olli Mustonen, and others at festivals in Salzburg, Montpellier, Colmar, Les Folles Journées de Nantes, Tokyo, and the Musée d'Orsay.

Her recordings include the complete Bartók Duos (Decca) in collaboration with her sister Sarah, and “Furiant,” released in 2024 by Mirare (the second part of an ongoing collaboration with La Symphonie de poche conducted by Nicolas Simon), a project that draws on the repertoire dear to her Romanian roots, inspired by Central European folklore.

Deborah Nemtanu has been named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

She plays a magnificent violin by Domenico Montagnana (1740), generously loaned by Monceau Investissements Mobiliers, a company of the Monceau Assurances group.