Biography
Kirill Gerstein
Recognized for his masterful technique and probing interpretations, Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein is quickly proving to be one of today's most promising and intriguing young artists.
Mr. Gerstein’s recent and upcoming engagements in North America include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and the San Francisco, Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Vancouver, Oregon and Utah symphonies; the Mann Music Center and Saratoga Festival with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago’s Grant Park Festival; and recitals in Boston, New York, Cincinnati, Detroit, Vancouver, Kansas City, Portland, OR and the Kennedy Center.
Equally active internationally, Kirill Gerstein has worked with many of Europe’s most prominent orchestras including the Munich, Rotterdam and Royal Philharmonics, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskappelle, Zurich Tonhalle, Finnish and Swedish Radio Orchestras, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin. He has also appeared in recital in Paris, Prague, Hamburg, London’s Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Liszt Academy in Budapest and made his debut at the Salzburg Festival performing with Andras Schiff in summer 2008.
Highlights of Mr. Gerstein’s 2009/10 North American season include debuts with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Charles Dutoit and with the Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic; re-engagements with the Detroit, Houston and Oregon symphonies; and a tour with cellist Steven Isserlis which includes performances at the Kennedy Center and in San Francisco. In Europe he tours Switzerland with the State Symphony of Russia and Austria and Italy with the NDR Hannover.
Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia where he attended one of the country's special music schools for gifted children, Kirill Gerstein came to the US at the age of 14 as the youngest student ever to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston to continue his studies in jazz piano. During his years at Berklee he continued to practice the classical piano repertoire and also attended the Boston University summer program at Tanglewood in 1995 and 1996. It was following his second summer at Tanglewood that he decided classical music would be his main focus. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky and earned both his Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees by the age of 20. Mr. Gerstein continued his studies in Madrid with Dmitri Bashkirov and Ference Rados in Budapest.
Mr. Gerstein received the First Prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and was a recipient of a 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award. He was also selected as Carnegie Hall’s “Rising Star” for the 2005/06 season. He became an American citizen in 2003 and is currently professor of piano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart.