At age nineteen she won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, and made her U.S. debut as soloist in 1962 with Max Rudolf, after which she became a protégée of George Szell.

[4] She later studied with Max Rostal in London,[5][6] and would fulfill the "prophecy of violinist Yehudi Menuhin who, upon hearing her play when she was 19, predicted a 'brilliant and successful career'.

At that competition, conductor William Steinberg, who was among the judges, invited her to make her American debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, which she did in 1962.

Word spread among Germany's conductors, such as Max Rudolf, about her achievements in the U.S., including her Cleveland debut where she played Dvorak's Violin Concerto.

[5] Reviews of that concert were positive, with Carl Apone noting that Dvořák's concerto was "a proving ground on which to separate the men from the boys:"[7] By the time Germany's Edith Peinemann, 24, had reached the end of the first movement, it was obvious that this serious musician had the situation well in hand.

Szell made a special attempt to obtain private funds from wealthy donors to buy her a violin of finer quality, which he helped her select.

Music professor Dr. David C. F. Wright, in an article acknowledging her contributions, notes that she made her American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1965.

In later years, she gave master classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University at Bloomington, Kusatsu Festival in Japan and the Lucerne Conservatory.

[13]Critic Roger Hecht described her recorded performance with Kempe: Edith Peinemann was a cult figure among violinists, and it is easy to hear why ... it is clear that she saw herself as a member of an ensemble rather than a virtuoso soloist.