Paul Zientara

Violist Paul Zientara stands out on both French and international stages as a soloist and chamber musician. Nominated for the 2025 Victoires de la Musique Classique in the "Instrumental Solo Revelation" category, he is the winner of several international competitions, including 3rd Prize at the Lionel Tertis Competition, laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation, Grand Prize of the Safran Foundation, and an Adami "Révélation" artist.

In 2022, he performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola as a soloist alongside Renaud Capuçon and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. He regularly appears in chamber music with artists such as Renaud Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud, Nelson Goerner, Valeriy Sokolov, Bertrand Chamayou, and Vincent Warnier, at renowned venues and festivals including the Auditorium of Radio France, the Philharmonie de Paris, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, the La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, the Rencontres Musicales d’Évian, and the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad.

Deeply engaged with contemporary repertoire, he is the dedicatee of several new works by composers. He joined Beau Soir Productions, allowing him to collaborate with Renaud Capuçon and record Mozart’s piano quartets and Strauss’s quartets for Deutsche Grammophon. He is assistant professor in Gérard Caussé’s class at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and plays a 1757 viola by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, generously loaned by private patrons, as well as a modern viola by Patrick Robin.

Languages spoken: French, English 

Photo credit: ARR