Timon Altwegg

The Swiss pianist Timon Altwegg (1967) began his career under Hubert Mahler. In 1989 he ended his studies with the diploma of the Swiss Association of Musical Education in Zurich. He then stayed for two years in London where he studied with Alan Rowlands at the Royal College of Music. In 1992 his studies ended with the Piano Performing Diploma and he therefore became an „Associate of the Royal College of Music“.
Timon Altwegg now lives in Kreuzlingen (Lake of Constance), the centre of his active pianist life. He has developed into a sought-after chamber musician and soloist and has been invited to concerts in the United States and all over Europe. As a soloist he prefers to play music of the twentieth century, being an expert of Spanish and Hispanic composers. In Summer 2001 the pianist was invited to the festival „Llanca“ in Spain. Other concerts with him were broadcast live in the Hungarian radio and television and also in the Austrian national television channel (ORF).
In May 2004 Timon Altwegg gave an outstanding performance in front of 1200 listeners in Iraq, being the first foreign soloist since 1990. Under the patronage of the Swiss Embassy in Baghdad, the Swiss Foreign Secretary and the cultural ministry of Iraq he played the piano concerto no. 24 in C Minor by W.A. Mozart together with the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. During his stay in Baghdad Timon Altwegg also gave master classes at the Music and Ballet School. Altwegg’s journey also found expression in the literary work by Elisabeth Horem in 2005, “Shrapnels – En marge de Bagdad”. Acknowledging the popularity of Timon Altwegg in foreign countries, the Centre de Compétence Culturelle des EDA (Foreign Ministry) supports the pianist repeatedly. In 2005 a bigger tour led him to Columbia and Ecuador where he was welcomed with great appreciation.
Thanks to his brilliant technique, Altwegg is entrusted by several contemporary composers with the première of their works. He’s been working and performing together with contemporary composer and cellist Graham Waterhouse. The Swiss composer Frank Levy even dedicated a piano sonata to Timon Altwegg. Being an expert of British composer’s, Altwegg was asked to become musical advisor of the Swain-Alexander Trust in London.