The violist Petra Ackermann is one of the most sought-after instrumentalists in contemporary music in Austria. Numerous works have been dedicated to her. Born in Carinthia in 1974, she studied with Siegfried Führlinger at the Vienna University of Music and with John White at the London Royal Academy of Music. Her collaboration with Garth Knox, with whom she studied the contemporary viola repertoire in Paris, was a turning point in her artistic development. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at many festivals, collaborates with musicians from the fields of jazz and electronic music, and is a member of Mondrian Ensemble Basel, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, PHACE/contemporary music, and Trio EIS.