Violinist Christian Tetzlaff is highly acclaimed for his expressive, insightful and personal interpretations. His individual approach to the score, always searching for the emotional and structural depth of the composition, has built a loyal following over time who often describe his performance as an existential experience. 

Since his spectacular debuts with the Schönberg violin concerto in 1988 in Berlin, Munich and Cleveland, he has appeared with major orchestras of the highest calibre such as Berlin, Vienna, New York Philharmonics, the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and many others. 

He performs an extensive repertoire ranging from Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas to lesser-known concertos by Giovanni Battista Viotti and Joseph Joachim, to contemporary works by György Ligeti, Jörg Widmann and Thomas Ades. In 2023 he took over the artistic direction of the SPANNUNGEN Festival in Heimbach, Germany. 

 In the 2025/26 season Tetzlaff features as Artist-in-Residence of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and performs concertos by Berg, Suk and Dvořák as well as chamber music with Vladimir Jurowski. 

In February 2026 he gives the world premiere of Ondrej Adamek’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Paris, with subsequent national premieres in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Further highlights of the season include duo recitals with Leif-Ove Andsnes, solo violin recitals in Berlin, Oslo and London, and concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Wiener Symphoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, Helsinki Philharmonic, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.