Alexandre Kantorow (born 20 May 1997) is a French pianist. Described by '' Gramophone'' as a "fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm" and by '' Fanfare'' as "Liszt reincarnated", he won the first prize, gold medal and Grand Prix at the 16th

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

in 2019. With this win, Kantorow became the first French winner in the history of the competition. Kantorow was born in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

to a family of musicians; his father is the violinist and conductor

Jean-Jacques Kantorow Jean-Jacques Kantorow (born 3 October 1945) is a French violinist and conductor. His son is the pianist Alexandre Kantorow. Biography Kantorow was born in Cannes, France, into a family of Russian-Jewish origin. From the age of 13 he studied at ...

and his mother is also a violinist. He began to study piano at the age of five at the conservatory of

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...

. At the age of 11, Kantorow began studies with Pierre-Alain Volondat, who was the winner of the 1983

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

in Belgium, and continued training with

Igor Lazko Igor Lazko (russian: Игорь Лазько, ), (b. St Petersburg, 1949), is a Russian classical pianist who has made a distinguished international career as performer, recording artist and teacher of other pianists. Early career in Russia Igor ...

at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founded ...

, as well as with Frank Braley and Haruko Ueda. When he was 16 years old, Kantorow was invited to play at the

La Folle Journée La Folle Journée is a French annual classical music festival held in Nantes. It is the largest classical music festival in France. The festival's name refers to the Pierre Beaumarchais play '' The Marriage of Figaro'', whose alternative title ...

festival in Nantes and has since appeared at such festivals as the

Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron The Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron is an international piano festival, founded in 1980 by Paul Onoratini (1920–2010), then mayor of La Roque-d'Anthéron and , then an intern at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, seeking to creat ...

, the Festival Chopin à Paris, and the Festival Piano aux Jacobins. At the age of 17, he performed at the

Philharmonie de Paris The Philharmonie de Paris () ( en, Paris Philharmonic) is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeaste ...

with the

Pasdeloup Orchestra The Pasdeloup Orchestra (also referred to as Orchestre des Concerts Pasdeloup) is the oldest symphony orchestra in France. History Founded in 1861 by Jules Pasdeloup with the name Concerts Populaires, it is the oldest orchestra still in existe ...

at its inaugural season to an audience of about 2,500. He has since appeared at major concert halls including the

Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from ...

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

in Amsterdam, the

BOZAR The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

in Brussels, and the auditorium in the

Louis Vuitton Foundation The Louis Vuitton Foundation (French: ''Fondation d'entreprise Louis-Vuitton''), previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (''Fondation Louis-Vuitton pour la création''), is a French art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group LV ...

. Kantorow currently studies with Rena Shereshevskaya, who was also the teacher of Lucas Debargue, at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Eng ...

. In 2019, Kantorow won the first prize, gold medal, and Grand Prix at the 16th

, becoming the first French winner in the history of the competition. He was the only finalist in the competition to play the

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, and also performed

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major. In 2023 Kantorow won the prestigious $300,000

Gilmore Artist Award The Gilmore Artist Award is awarded every four years to a concert pianist. The award was established in 1989 by The Gilmore of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Selection criteria In contrast with other music awards, nominees are not aware that they are unde ...

Selected recordings

* Camille Saint-Saëns, ''Complete Piano Concertos, Rhapsodie d’Auvergne, Africa, Allegro appassionato, Wedding Cake,'' Alexandre Kantorow, piano;

Tapiola Sinfonietta The Tapiola Sinfonietta (founded 1987) is a city orchestra of Espoo, Finland. The orchestra consists of 41 members and its principal concert venue is Tapiola Hall (with 773 seats) at the Espoo Cultural Centre. At the beginning Jorma Panula, Osmo V ...

;

, conductor; 2 SACD BIS (2019/2022).

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantorow, Alexandre 1997 births Living people Musicians from Clermont-Ferrand 21st-century French male classical pianists Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition