Brian Ganz, piano
Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Washington Post critic Joan Reinthaler has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.”
Mr. Ganz won 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 the 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 Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, St. Petersburg (Russia) Philharmonic, National Symphony, National Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, L'Orchestre Lamoureux, and L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. He has performed in such halls as the Beaux-Arts in Brussels, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Suntory in Tokyo, L'Arena Theater in Verona, and Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Mr. Ganz's recent concert highlights include performances of Mozart concerti with the Memphis Symphony and the National Philharmonic, and a performance with the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall under the baton of Yoel Levi. He has also performed with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Philippe Entremont, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, and Jerzy Semkow.
In 1992 Mr. Ganz made his recording debut for the Gailly label in Belgium. His recordings of works of Chopin and Dutilleux have been released on the Accord label in Paris. Since 2001 he has been working with Maestoso Records on a project to record the complete works of Frederic Chopin. Mr. Ganz was also recently engaged as an artist/editor for the new Schirmer Performance Editions (published jointly by Hal Leonard and G. Schirmer). His first edition, the Chopin Preludes, was published in the summer of 2005.
Mr. Ganz is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Leon Fleisher. Earlier teachers include Ylda Novik and the late Claire Deene. A gifted teacher himself, Mr. Ganz is Artist-in-Residence at St. Mary's College of Maryland, where he has been a member of the piano faculty since 1986. Since 2000 he has served on the Peabody piano faculty. In December 2001 he was honored to serve on the jury of the Long Thibaud competition in Paris.
Mr. Ganz describes himself as “an active explorer of the many ways in which the study and performance of great music can remind us of the Spirit that unites all living things.” He has donated numerous performances in benefit concerts and was a founding member of the Washington Chapter of Artists to End Hunger.
Mr. Ganz is represented by Mariedi Anders Artists Management, Inc., San Francisco, California.
December 6, 2008