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The Russian-born German pianist, Igor Levit, moved at age eight with his family to Germany where he completed his piano studies at Hannover Academy of Music, Theatre and Media in 2009 with the highest academic and performance scores in the history of the institute. He has studied under the tutelage of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Matti Raekallio, Bernd Goetze, Lajos Rovátkay and Hans Leygraf. As youngest participant in 2005 Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, he won the Silver Prize, the Prize for Best Performer of Chamber Music, the "Audience Favorite" Prize and the Prize for Best Performer of Contemporary Music. Previously, he had won the First Prize of the International Hamamtsu Piano Academy Competition in Japan. Since 2003 Levit has been a scolarship student at Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes as well as at Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Igor Levit has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Wiener Symphoniker and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover - engagements which were immediately followed by re-invitations. . Having dedicated to Levit eight sonatas of his cycle Nano Sonaten, Frederic Rzewski has composed a cycle of four pieces Dreams II for him which Levit will premiere at Heidelberger Frühling in 2015. Composer Frederic Rzewski has dedicated eight sonatas of his cycle Nano Sonaten to Levit and is currently composing a world premiere for the young pianist in 2015. Among Igor Levit’s chamber music partners are Lisa Batiashvili, Simon Bode, Ning Feng, Julia Fischer, Sol Gabetta, Christiane Karg, Jörg Widmann, Maxim Vengerov and Tabea Zimmermann.
Highlights of the 2012-2013 season included debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, BBC Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Nominated by Laeiszhalle Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden for the concert series "ECHO Rising Stars", Igor Levit has debuted as a recitalist at Brussel’s Palais des Beaux Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Musikverein, Town Hall, Birmingham and Stockholm’s Konserthus.
In 2013-2014 season Igor Levit celebrated both his recital and orchestral debut on the main stage of Vienna’s Musikverein to great critical acclaim: jumping in for Maurizio Pollini in June 2014 and for Hélène Grimaud (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Andris Nelsons) respectively in March 2014. Only four days earlier on March 12, 2014, Levit made his New York City recital debut at the Park Avenue Armory to effusive reviews both by The New Yorker and The New Times. Further recital performances in 2013-2014 saw him amongst others at Zürich’s Tonhalle, at the Berlin Philharmonie and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. The season marked his debuts with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He was Artist in Residence at the Kissinger Sommer as well as Preisträger in Residence at the Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Igor Levit starts his 2014-2015 season with recital performances featuring staples of his repertoire such as J.S. Bach, L.v. Beethoven, Ferruccio Busoni and Dmitri Shostakovich at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Prinzregententheater Munich, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, as well as at Copenhagen’s Black Diamond, Birmingham’s Town Hall and at Tonhalle Zürich. London’s Wigmore Hall is dedicating an introductory series to Levit featuring three solo recitals throughout the season, the finale being an evening of music by Cornelius Cardew and Frederic Rzewski in July 2015. In spring 2015 Levit returns to the Heidelberger Frühling in his capacity of the Festival’s Chamber Music Academy’s Artistic Director and makes recital debuts with Washington’s Performing Arts Society and The Gilmore in Michigan. Orchestral debuts await with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Heras-Casado) and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Roger Norrington) as well as with the HR-Sinfonieorchester (Andrew Manze) and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester (Bringuier). The season sees Levit reunited with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle (Vladimir Jurowski) and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln (Jukka-Pekka Saraste). He returns in recital to Germany’s summer festivals, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Kissinger Sommer, Festspiele as well as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and continues his L.v. Beethoven Sonata Cycle at the Schubertiade in Austria.
An exclusive recording artist for Sony Classical, Igor Levit’s debut disc of the five last L.v. Beethoven sonatas won the BBC Music Magazine Newcomer of the Year 2014 Award, the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award 2014 and the ECHO 2014 for Solo Recording of the Year (19th Century Music)/Piano. His second recording for Sony - J.S. Bach's Six Partitas (BWV 825-830) - was released in August 2014.
Igor Levit makes his home in Hannover. World Management: IMG Artists, LLC, New York City.
Exclusive Manager: Kristin Schuster. |
