Piotr Anderszewski

Born in 1969 to Polish-Hungarian parents, Piotr Anderszewski began playing the piano at the age of six and studied at the Lyon and Strasbourg Conservatories, the University of Southern California, and the Chopin Academy in Warsaw. Anderszewski is considered to be among the most compelling pianists of the current generation. Since launching his énternational career at London's Wigmore Hall in 1991 with a recital featuring Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, he continued to capture the attention of critics and audiences worldwide with his distinctive interpretations and commanding technique.

Anderszewski made his U.S. orchestral debut in 2000 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has made debuts with the Boston, Seattle, Baltimore and Montreal Symphony Orchestras as well as at the Ravinia and Tanglewood Festivals. He has also appeared in recital in San Francisco, Vancouver and at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The artist's worldwide orchestral engagements have included performances with the Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony, Orchestre National in Paris and the Vienna Radio Symphony, among others. As a recitalist, he has appeared in most major European venues, from London's Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls to the Theatre des Champs Elysees.

Piotr Anderszewski's first recording - featuring works by Bach, Beethoven and Webern - won the Polish Critic's Prize. In 2000, the pianist became an exclusive Virgin Classics artist, where his main releases include a disc of Mozart Piano Concerti with the Sinfonia Varsovia featuring Anderszewski as both player and director, a solo disc of Bach's First, Third and Sixth Partitas, which was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award, and a recently recorded Chopin disc. Gramophone magazine voted his latest recording CD of the Month in August 2004, describing Anderszewski's playing as "a beacon of light and quality. Here, surely, is the most powerful and distinctive of musical voices, a rare combination of purity and adventure."

Anderszewski has been the recipient of various prestigious awards, including the Royal Philharmonic Society's Best Instrumentalist Award in 2001. This award was given for his concerto and chamber music performances throughout the UK, in particular at the 2000 Cheltenham Festival, where he was artist-in-residence. In April 2002, Piotr Anderszewski became the fourth pianist to receive the Gilmore Artist Award. He has also received the prestigious Szymanowski Prize for his interpretation of Szymanowski's music and has been the recipient of support from the Miami-based Patrons for Exceptional Artists Foundation.