Pianists we love in London
Welcome to some pianists playing in London this year
![Víkingur has won numerous awards, including Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards for Johann Sebastian Bach,[3] Opus Klassik Award for Solo Instrumental in 2019[4] and 2020,[5] and the Rolf Schock Prize in Music in 2022.[6]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e516e5_0fca78a9ca454af19d7c9a2f2fdce5e6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_265,h_265,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Image-empty-state.jpg)
Víkingur Ólafsson
41.20191649555099
Icelandic
Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has often reminded the world of the deep human need for beauty and wonder; in consequence, he has touched countless hearts around the globe.
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He studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Máté before attending the Juilliard School in New York, earning bachelor's and master's degrees under the supervision of Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. He also took lessons with Ann Schein.
Víkingur Ólafsson grew up in Reykjavík and started playing the piano at an early age under the tutelage of his mother, Svana Víkingsdóttir, a piano teacher
Víkingur has won numerous awards, including Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards for Johann Sebastian Bach,[3] Opus Klassik Award for Solo Instrumental in 2019[4] and 2020,[5] and the Rolf Schock Prize in Music in 2022.[6]
Seen at Wigmore Hall where he played Goldburgs variation all in one go and to thunderous applause, after which he spoke about his need to change the concert schedule not once but twice, and about his wife and two children all having flu that prevented him playing his E series - which he will in Oxford in July

Tiffany Poon
28.32854209445585
Hong Kong /USA
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N/A

Krystian Zimerman
68.39425051334702
Poland
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International Chopin Piano Competition First Prize

Kirill Gerstein
45.51403148528405
Russian American
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Gerstein’s world première recording of Thomas Adès’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the Boston Symphony conducted by the composer was nominated for three Grammys and received the 2020 Gramophone Award. Other noteworthy Gerstein releases include Strauss’s Enoch Arden with the great Swiss actor, Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire, The Downfall); Tchaikovsky’s complete Piano Concertos (including the 1st Concerto in the composer’s original urtext version) with Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic;

Andras Schiff
71.35112936344969
Hungary
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Grammy Award, Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal

Alice Sara Ott
36.73921971252567
German - Japanese
Meanwhile Ott’s pioneering recital tours redefine classical music for the modern era, making her one of the most influential artists of her generation.
Monthly Spotify Listeners =2200000
Alice was born in Munich, Germany, in 1988. Her Japanese mother had studied piano in Tokyo; her father was a German civil engineer
Ott started piano lessons at the age of four. At age five, she reached the final stage of the youth competition in Munich, playing to a full house in the Hercules Hall.
By the age of seven, she had won the Jugend musiziert competition in Germany

Mishka Rushdie Momen
34.95687885010267
British
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Nobuyuki Tsujii
36.62149212867899
Japanese
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In 1995, at age seven, Tsujii won the first prize at the All Japan Music of Blind Students by the Tokyo Helen Keller Association. In 1998, at age ten, he debuted with the Century Orchestra, Osaka.

Evgeny Kissy
53.549623545516766
Russian
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Technically unassailable, interpretatively distinctive, Evgeny Kissin is one of the world’s most sought-after pianists – among his many awards, Echo Klassik’s Soloist of the Year. The Washington Post wonders if ‘anyone else has the virtuosity to step this far outside the box with such honesty, and dignity, and power’. ‘Kissin’ has a phenomenal technique’, argues BBC Music Magazine, ‘and no inhibitions about displaying it’.
![In the summer of 2011, he made his debut at the BBC Proms as the youngest-ever soloist on opening night,[8] playing Liszt's Second Piano Concerto, and Britten's Piano Concerto later in the series with the National Youth Orchestra. He has since played at the Proms numerous times, and in 2015 performed at the Last Night of the festival. Judith Weir composed her solo piano work Day Break Shadows Flee for Grosvenor, who gave its world premiere in September 2014.[9] In 2016, he became the inaugural recipient of The Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize with the New York Philharmonic. His 2020 recording of the Chopin Piano Concerti won both a Gramophone award in the Concerto category, and a 'Diapason d'Or de l'année' from the French magazine Diapason with Diapason's critic declaring that the recording is “a version to rank among the best, and confirmation of an extraordinary artist.”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e516e5_42a483caa8e842d4ba234edaa067376f~mv2.avif/v1/fill/w_265,h_303,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Image-empty-state.avif)
Benjamin Grosvenor
32.80492813141684
British
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In the summer of 2011, he made his debut at the BBC Proms as the youngest-ever soloist on opening night,[8] playing Liszt's Second Piano Concerto, and Britten's Piano Concerto later in the series with the National Youth Orchestra. He has since played at the Proms numerous times, and in 2015 performed at the Last Night of the festival. Judith Weir composed her solo piano work Day Break Shadows Flee for Grosvenor, who gave its world premiere in September 2014.[9] In 2016, he became the inaugural recipient of The Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize with the New York Philharmonic. His 2020 recording of the Chopin Piano Concerti won both a Gramophone award in the Concerto category, and a 'Diapason d'Or de l'année' from the French magazine Diapason with Diapason's critic declaring that the recording is “a version to rank among the best, and confirmation of an extraordinary artist.”
![A prodigy, Argerich was performing professionally by age eight. three Grammy Awards (1999 and 2005 [best instrumental soloist performance (with orchestra)] and 2004 [best chamber music performance]). In 2005 she received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for music and the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government. Beginning in 1999 a piano competition in her name was held annually in Buenos Aires, and from 2001 she directed a music festival in her name, also in Buenos Aires. In 2016 she received a Kennedy Center Honor, an American award that celebrates the arts.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e516e5_027c5d8e1ada47de8b0fdf27df510b52~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_265,h_127,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Image-empty-state.jpg)
Martha Argerich
83.89596167008898
Argentina
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A prodigy, Argerich was performing professionally by age eight. three Grammy Awards (1999 and 2005 [best instrumental soloist performance (with orchestra)] and 2004 [best chamber music performance]). In 2005 she received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for music and the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government. Beginning in 1999 a piano competition in her name was held annually in Buenos Aires, and from 2001 she directed a music festival in her name, also in Buenos Aires. In 2016 she received a Kennedy Center Honor, an American award that celebrates the arts.

Lucas Debargue
34.51334702258727
French
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Won worldwide acclaim as a Laureate of the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Roman Borisov
43.73169062286105
Russian
After winning first prize at the Krainev Youth Competition 2019 and numerous concerts in the 2019/2020 season, including in Hamburg, Berlin, at the Piano Festival Ruhr, and at the Gstaad Festival, he moved to Berlin after finishing his secondary education. In January 2022, he successfully began his studies at the Hanns Eisler conservatory with Prof. Eldar Nebolsin. Previous engagements have taken him to Nancy with the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Lorraine conducted by Vladimir Kiradjiev; to Reutlingen with the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ariane Matiakh, and to Vienna with the ORF Symphony Orchestra conducted by Howard Griffith. He has presented his solo program at the Philharmonie Essen as well as in Bordeaux, Anglet, Zürich and Bad Kissingen.
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Roman Borisov was introduced to legendary piano teacher Mary Lebenzon at the Novosibirsk Conservatory at the early age of four.
As the youngest participant, Roman Borisov won the First Prize at the Kissinger KlavierOlymp in October 2022. first prize at the Krainev Youth Competition 2019

Christian Blackshaw
76.2737850787132
British
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His hugely acclaimed Wigmore Hall complete Mozart Piano Sonatas series was recorded for Wigmore Hall Live and released in four volumes. Critics have been unanimous in their praise, describing these “landmark” recordings as “captivating”, “magical” and “masterful”. Volume 4 was named as one of the Best Classical Recordings of 2015 in the New York Times in addition to Gramophone Magazine’s Top 50 Greatest Mozart Recordings.

Guillem León Vivas
25.00205338809035
Spanish
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Igor Levitt
38.13552361396304
Russian in Berlin
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Noah Zhou
24.210814510609172
Chinese
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Noah has been the recipient of a number of awards, notably 2nd Prize at the YPF European Grand Prix (2022), as well as the Royal Philharmonic Society of Great Britain’s Duet Prize for Best Young Instrumentalist (2018). He has also been awarded 1st Prizes at Valsesia Musica International Competition (2021) and the Euregio Piano Award (2021). On top of this, Noah has to his name the titles of Laureate of the Rio International Competition (2022); Horowitz International Competition (2019); Campillos International Competition (2021), and was a finalist at the UK Piano Open (2020); and Manchester International Concerto Competition (2019).

Alim Beisembayev
26.17659137577002
Kazakhstan
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Born in Kazakhstan in 1998, Alim’s early studies were at the Purcell School where he won several awards, including First Prize at the Junior Cliburn International Competition. Alim was taught by Tessa Nicholson at school and continued his studies with her at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, Alim completed his Masters’ and Artist Diploma in Performance at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Professor Vanessa Latarche. He is generously supported by numerous scholarships such as the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, ABRSM, the Countess of Munster, Hattori Foundation, the Drake Calleja Fund trusts, and belongs to the Talent Unlimited charity scheme.

Imogen Cooper
75.66598220396989
English
Basically one of England's piano gems.
Monthly Spotify Listeners =49000
Awarded DBE IN 2021, she also has the Queen's Medal for Music, the Royal Philharmonic Society's Award 2008

Llyr Williams
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Welsh
Welsh born and resident pianist, currently Resident Pianist at Y Galeri concert hall in Caernarfon, Gwynedd
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Queens College Cambridge, then RAM finishing with it's highest award the Diploma
Quite a late starter comparatively, at 7, but went on to pass all his grades with distinction before he was 12
Seen at Wigmore Hall in January 2025 playing a selection of Mozart's sonatas

Pierre-Laurent Aimard
67.6331279945243
French
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