The Strad’s September 2025 cover artist shares details about her instrument and bow
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This is an excerpt from The Strad September 2025 feature, ’Tabea Zimmermann: climb every mountain’. Read the full article here
Tabea Zimmermann plays a 2019 viola by the French luthier Patrick Robin, who died in May 2025. She uses a modern bow by the Israeli bow maker David Samuels.
‘These two are my main companions,’ Zimmermann says. She describes Robin’s instrument as ‘outstandingly beautiful’ and praises it for its ‘comfortable playability’.
‘It allows me to express myself through the music I am playing. It is incredibly versatile and can fulfil all the roles required: it can be soft but distinct, strong but warm, clear and sweet, and it can both speak and sing.
‘Every day, when I unpack my instrument, I am grateful to have known this master luthier who was so skilled, but remained so modest.’
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