Brian Ganz, piano

Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation.  After a 1995 recital at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, Washington Post critic Mark Carrington wrote, "There has never been any doubt that Brian Ganz is a good pianist, but last night's recital at the...Terrace Theater offered strong evidence that he is a great one."

Mr. Ganz was winner of one of two First Grand Prizes awarded in the 1989 Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris, where he was also awarded special prizes for the best recital round of the competition and best performance of the required work.  That same year he won a Beethoven Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, and in 1991 he was a silver medalist with third prize in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition.  After his performance in the finals of the Brussels competition, the critic for La Libre Belgique wrote:  "We don't have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy."

Mr. Ganz has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and L'Orchestre Philharmonic de Monte Carlo.  He has performed in such halls as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Le Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, L'Arena Theater in Verona and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.  In 2001 he made debuts in Korea with the Daejeon Philharmonic and in Switzerland with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic (of Russia).

Mr. Ganz made his recording debut in August of 1992 for the Gailly label in Belgium, and his recordings of works of Dutilleux and Chopin have been released on the Accord label in Paris.  Last year he began a project with Maestoso Records in which he will record the complete works of Frederic Chopin.  The project will be completed in 2010, the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth.  Mr. Ganz' recent concert highlights include performances of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with Marin Alsop and the Colorado Symphony in March of 1999; and two performances for the Baltimore Symphony's 1998 Summer Musicfest:  Mozart's Ch'io mi scordi di te for mezzo-soprano, piano obbligato and orchestra under the baton of Artistic Director Pinchas Zukerman, and Schubert's "Trout" Quintet with strings led by Mr. Zukerman on viola.

Mr. Ganz is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Leon Fleisher.  Earlier teachers include Ylda Novik and the late Claire Deene.  A 1990 fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Ganz is also an accomplished chamber musician.  He has been called "splendid" as an accompanist/duo partner by  The New York Times, and "a model chamber musician" by The Washington Post.

Gifted as a teacher, Mr. Ganz is Artist-in-Residence and a member of the faculty at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and has recently joined the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music.  In December of 2001 he served on the jury of the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris.  Mr. Ganz is also an active participant in the fight against hunger both locally and throughout the world, and has donated numerous performances in benefit concerts.  He was a founding member of the Washington Chapter of Artists to End Hunger.