Khatia Buniatishvili ( ka, ხატია ბუნიათიშვილი, ; born 21 June 1987) is a Georgian concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Early life and education

Born in 1987 in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Khatia Buniatishvili began studying

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

under her mother at the age of three. She gave her first concert with Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra when she was 6 and appeared internationally at age 10. She studied in Tbilisi with Tengiz Amirejibi and in Vienna with

Oleg Maisenberg Oleg Maisenberg (born 29 April 1945) is a Soviet-Austrian pianist and teacher. Early life and career Born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Oleg Maisenberg received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of five. He completed his studi ...

at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

. Her older sister, Gvantsa Buniatishvili, is also a pianist, and they have played together on numerous occasions.

Career

Buniatishvili signed with

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by ...

as an exclusive artist in 2010. Her 2011 debut album included

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

’s Sonata in B minor, Liebestraum No. 3, and Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Buniatishvili is a regular attendee of the

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is an annual international music festival that takes place for two weeks in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier, Switzerland. Founded by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted international so ...

, and she performed Liszt's Sonata in B minor at the 2011 festival. In 2012, Buniatishvili released her second album, ''Chopin,'' which featured solo piano works as well as Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor accompanied by the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

and

Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian-American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also mu ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported "This is playing straight from the heart from one of today's most exciting and technically gifted young pianists."

Discography

* 2011 – ''Franz Liszt,'' solo piano album (

) * 2012 – ''Chopin,'' with the

, conducted by

(Sony Classical) * 2014 – ''Motherland,'' solo piano album (Sony Classical) * 2016 – ''Kaleidoscope,'' solo piano album (Sony Classical) * 2016 – ''Liszt Beethoven,'' with the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

, conducted by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

(Sony Classical) * 2017 – ''Rachmaninoff,'' with the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Paavo Järvi (Sony Classical) * 2019 – ''Schubert,'' solo piano album (Sony Classical) * 2020 – ''Labyrinth,'' solo piano album (Sony Classical)

References

External links

*
Khatia Buniatishvili at Sony Classical
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buniatishvili, Khatia 1987 births Living people Classical pianists from Georgia (country) Women pianists from Georgia (country) Musicians from Tbilisi Child classical musicians Women classical pianists People from Batumi BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century musicians from Georgia (country) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century musicians from Georgia (country) 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists