Biography

Evgeny Kissin’s musicality, the depth and poetic quality of his interpretations, and his extraordinary virtuosity have earned him the veneration and admiration deserved only by one of the most gifted classical pianists of his generation. He was born in Moscow in 1971 and began to play by ear and improvise on the piano at the age of two. At six years old, he entered the Moscow Gnessin School of Music, where he was a student of Anna Pavlovna Kantor, who has been his only teacher. At the age of ten, he made his concerto debut playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto, K.466, and gave his first solo recital in Moscow one year later. He came to international attention in 1984 when, at the age of twelve, he performed both of Frédéric Chopin’s piano concertos in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow State Philharmonic. This concert was recorded live by Melodia, and a two-LP album was released the following year. Melodia proceeded to release five more LPs of live performances in Moscow.

This season, Mr. Kissin gives solo recitals in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Basel, Madrid, and other European cities. He also returns to Asia, where he gives solo recitals in Japan and South Korea, as well as to North America, where he performs in Vancouver, Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Kissin has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Manhattan School of Music, the Shostakovich Award, an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the Hong Kong University. His newest release is an album featuring Beethoven sonatas on Deutsche Grammophon. He made his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices in 1994.

April 2022