Olympic Trio

Biography of Peter Clemente

Peter Clemente was born in 1968 and studied with Prof. Ana Chumachenko at the Musikhochschule München and Prof. Valerij Klimov at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken. He was invited to masterclasses with Rainer Kussmaul, Alice Schoenfeldt and Dora Schwarzberg.

Among the honours Peter Clemente has received as a soloist are First Prize at the German national competition “Jugend musiziert” and First Prize at the international violin competition “Michelangelo Abbado” in Sondrio/Italy in 1992. He was a member of the German National Youth Orchestra (Bundesjugendorchester, the leading German youth orchestra) and the well-known European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) for many years.

Since 1996 Peter Clemente has been concertmaster of the “Münchner Kammersolisten” and has often performed as soloist with this chamber orchestra.

In 2003 he was invited by Claudio Abbado to join the newly founded “Luzern Festival Orchestra”, an orchestra which is comprised of renowned soloists such as Sabine Meyer, Emanuel Pahud, Natalia Gutman and members of the Hagen Quartet

In 1986 Peter Clemente formed the “Clemente Trio” together with the pianist Paul Rivinius and his brother Carl, who was replaced by the cellist Konstantin Pfiz in 1994. The trio has won prizes at many competitions such as the German national competition “Jugend musiziert” and the “Caltanissetta International Chamber Music Competition” in Italy in 1995 and was awarded a special prize by the “Deutsche Industrie”.

The trio has become well-known in particular after winning the renowned ARD Chamber Music Competition in Munich in 1998. In the past this competition has helped promote the careers of famous soloists such as Jessy Norman, Mitsuko Uchida, Heinz Holliger, Christoph Eschenbach and Yuri Bashmet and has resulted in a busy concert schedule for the Clemente Trio.

The Clemente Trio was one of the few ensembles selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) for the “Rising Stars” Debut Tour and in 1997/98 consequently gave concerts in some of the world’s most famous concert halls such as the Kölner Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konserthus Stockholm, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Concert Hall Athens and the New York Carnegie Hall.

The Clemente Trio has played concert tours in North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. The trio is frequently invited to perform at international festivals such as the Festwochen Luzern, Europäische Musikwochen in Passau, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Sommerkonzerte Schloß Schleißheim.

Peter Clemente plays on an Italian instrument made in 1600 by Paolo Maggini named the “de Beriot”.