Anne-Sophie Mutter is a musical phenomenon: for more than 40 years this virtuoso has been a fixture in all the world’s major concert halls, making her mark on the classical music scene as a soloist, mentor and visionary. This four-time Grammy Award winner is just as committed to performances of the traditional composers as she is to championing the future of music: so far she has given world premieres of 25 different works. Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutoslawski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir André Previn, Wolfgang Rihm and John Williams have all composed for Anne-Sophie Mutter. Furthermore, she is involved in numerous benefit projects and dedicated to supporting tomorrow’s musical elite: in the autumn of 1997 she founded the “Association of Friends of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation e.V.”, to which the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation was added in 2008.
Anne-Sophie Mutter’s 2018 concert calendar features engagements in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, once again reflecting the violinist’s musical versatility and her unparalleled prominence in the world of classical music: in March she will perform the world premiere of André Previn’s composition The Fifth Season for violin and piano at Carnegie Hall. In November, she will be introducing audiences to musical terra incognita once more when she will be premiering a composition for two violins by the South Korean composer Unsuk Chin. Throughout this year, violin works by Krzysztof Penderecki will occupy a central place in Anne-Sophie Mutter’s repertoire in commemoration of the composer’s 85th birthday in 2018 and the many years of friendship between herself and the Polish composer. In Penderecki’s honour, she will play works especially written for her by him, i.e. Violin Concerto No. 2 “Metamorphoses” (which she premiered in 1995) and the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano (premiered by her in 2000), the Duo concertante per violino e contrabbasso (premiered by her in 2011) as well as La Follia for solo violin (which she premiered in 2013). A double CD featuring all of Penderecki’s works dedicated to Anne-Sophie Mutter, including the first ever recording of the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, is scheduled for release in the late summer of 2018.
In November 2017, Romania awarded Anne-Sophie Mutter the Order of Cultural Merit with the rank of Grand Officer; in the same month France conferred on her the insignia of Commander of the French Order of the Arts and Literature. The violinist is likewise the recipient of the German Grand Order of Merit, the French Medal of the Legion of Honour, the Bavarian Order of Merit, and the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, to name just a few.