The German violist will begin the role in summer 2025
German violist Nils Mönkemeyer has been appointed viola professor at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler School of Music. He begins in the summer of 2025 and succeeds Tabea Zimmermann, who has taught at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts since 2023. Mönkemeyer is currently a teacher at the University for Music and Theatre in Munich, where he began teaching in 2011.
On social media, Mönkemeyer said of the news: ‘I am immensely looking forward to this new chapter of my life after teaching in Munich 14 years.’
In recognition of his work as educator, the violist most recently won the German University Association’s Professor of the Year award.
Other teaching roles include a two-year professorship at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden, and an assistant professorship at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid.
Mönkemeyer began as a violin student at the the Bremen University of the Arts before switching to viola and studying at the Hanover University of Music with Christian Pohl. In 2000, he moved to the Munich University of Music and Theatre to study with Hariolf Schlichtig.
The violist has performed as a soloist with major orchestras across the world including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra, and alongside conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Simone Young, Andrew Manze, Mark Minkowski, Kent Nagano, Markus Poschner, Kristiina Poska and Markus Stenz.
He is a regular guest at major festivals such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Boswiler Herbst. He gives frequent performances with the Julia Fischer Quartet and in chamber ensembles alongside other leading musicians.
Mönkemeyer plays a viola by Philipp Augustin.
Read: Violist Nils Mönkemeyer named Professor of the Year by the German University Association
Read: ‘Learning to trust yourself is a never-ending process’ - Nils Mönkemeyer’s life lessons
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
No comments yet