At the age of sixteen, Maistre won his first international competition in Paris, later winning awards at international competitions held in
Cardiff,
Munich,
Vienna and
Jerusalem. In 1998, he was awarded first prize and two interpretation prizes at the USA International Harp Competition. Later that same year, Maistre became the first French musician to join the ranks of the prestigious
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist, Maistre has appeared with numerous orchestras under the baton of such eminent conductors as
Riccardo Muti,
Daniele Gatti,
Sir Simon Rattle,
Sir André Prévin,
Heinrich Schiff,
Antoni Ros-Marbà,
Bertrand de Billy,
Walter Weller,
Gilbert Varga,
Josep Pons and
Philippe Jordan, amongst others. He became the first harpist to appear as a soloist at one of the
Vienna Philharmonic's subscription concerts In May 2002. Maistre has also been invited to perform at many of Europe's leading festivals, including the
Schleswig-Holstein,
Salzburg,
Rheingau, Vienna and
Verbier Festivals, the
Budapest Spring Festival and the
Würzburg Mozart Festival. Among the musical artists he has performed with are
Kathleen Battle,
Ingolf Turban,
Anne Gastinel,
Diana Damrau and
Barbara Bonney; he has as well performed with actors such as
Peter Simonischek and . Among highlights of a tour with the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with the conductor
Daniele Gatti in 2009, Maistre appeared as a soloist at the
Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Cologne Philharmonie and the
Vienna Konzerthaus. He also appeared in concerts with the
Orchestre National de France under
Riccardo Muti at the
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; a series of recitals with Diana Damrau at the
Festspielhaus in
Baden-Baden, Paris Opera, La Scala, and the
Musikhalle in
Hamburg and recitals with
Bo Skovhus at the
Semperoper in
Dresden, the
Tonhalle in
Düsseldorf and the
Musikverein in Vienna.
Teaching Maistre has taught at the
Hamburg Academy of Music since 2001. He additionally gives regular masterclasses at
New York's
Juilliard School of Music,
Tokyo's
Toho University and
London's
Trinity College of Music. ==Selected discography==