Nils Mönkemeyer and Nicholas Rimmer 2009

Nils Mönkemeyer (viola), and Nicholas Rimmer (piano)

Nils Mönkemeyer and Nicholas Rimmer won the Parkhouse Award in the 2009 competition, where they performed the second movement of Hindemith’s Sonata in C major and Brahms Sonata in F minor, Op 120, No 1

Nils Mönkemeyer and Nicholas Rimmer have performed together as a duo since 2007. Both passionate chamber musicians as well as in demand as soloists, their partnership has received glowing reception from critics and audiences alike. They have performed extensively across Germany and Europe through the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat). The duo was selected for the Best of North-Rhine-Westphalia concert series and has performed at the invitation of festivals such as Heidelberger Frühling, Festival Mitte Europa and in internationally-renowned venues such as the Gasteig, Munich and Beethovenhaus, Bonn. Their performances have been broadcast by NDR, SWR, BR, HR, WDR and Deutschlandfunk radio stations. The duo has recorded three CDs, the first on the Genuin label and more recently with Sony to great critical acclaim, receiving CD of the month in Ensemble magazine and winning an ECHO-Award in 2009.

In 2006 Nils Mönkemeyer won 1st Prize in Moskau at the International Yuri Bashmet Competition, as well as the Prize of the German Music Competition. Many solo appearances have followed including with the Dresden Kapellsolisten, a tour of Europe with the Moscow Soloists under Yuri Bashmet, and performances with the Russian National Orchestra. As part of the “Chamber Music connects the World” festival of the Kronberg Academy he performed with Gidon Kremer and Lynn Harrell in Summer 2008. Since 2006 he has been Professor for orchestral programmes at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia Madrid, and in October 2009 he took up a Professorship at the Dresden Hochschule. His third recording for Sony BMG appeared in March 2010.

Following studies in Cambridge, Hannover and in Berlin, Nicholas Rimmer is building an enviable reputation as a chamber musician and accompanist. He has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Leeds Lieder+, Beethovenfest Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival. He was first prize-winner at the Birmingham International Competition for Accompanists and has won the German Music Competition twice, most recently with the Leibniz Piano Trio in 2010. Since 2008 he has held a teaching fellowship at the Music Conservatory in Hannover and recently recorded his debut album as a solo pianist.
November 2010