Alexander Ghindin, Russia, 1st Prize Winner

Russian pianist Alexander Ghindin is a seasoned artist emerging as a major force in the international piano world. In 1994 at age 17, he became the youngest winner ever of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, later gaining Second Prize at Brussels International Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1999. In 2007 he won the first prize of the Cleveland International Piano Competition in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2006, Mr. Ghindin was named an "Honoured Artist of Russia".  In that same year he became the Artistic Director of the beautiful and acoustically-acclaimed Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International Performing Arts Center.

From the opening rounds in Cleveland, Ghindin was the clear favorite, as Donald Rosenberg stated in his coverage for The Plain Dealer, "A full week before he won first prize in the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition... Russia's Alexander Ghindin leapt to the front of the piano pack." He clinched his victory with a performance of Rachmaninoff No. 3 with the Cleveland Orchestra. Ghindin's Cleveland prize included a $50,000 cash award, a compact disc recording on the Naxos label, two years of management service, and a New York recital debut at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall.

During the 2008-2009 season, Alexander Ghindin is performing more than 50 solo recitals and concerto performances across the United States, alongside a busy schedule of concerts in Europe and more than 30 concerts that will reach nearly every major city in Russia as well. Highlights of Mr. Ghindin's recent concert seasons include the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the Konzerthaus performing Rachmaninoff No. 4 with Eliahu Inbal, the Tokyo Suntory Hall with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony performing the Chopin Concerto No. 1 with James de Priest, and the Brussels Palais-des-Beaux performing Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 with the Orchestre National de Belgique with Jean-Claude Casadesus. Mr. Ghindin also performed concertos with orchestras in Bordeaux, Ekaterinaburg, Kazan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moscow, Pau (France), Monte Carlo, Prague, Slovenia, and Vilnius, and others.

In 2009-2010, Mr. Ghindin will be organizing two festivals in Moscow, and his own concert series in one of the greatest halls of Russia, the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Ghindin graduated from Moscow State P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory after completing master class studies with Professor M.S. Voskrensky in 2001. By the age of 14 he had already won the Moscow Young Pianists' Competition, and after his victories at the Tchaikovsky Queen Elisabeth Competitions, he joined the Moscow State Philharmonic as soloist in 1999, and has performed in his native Russia, as well as in Europe and Japan. The numerous ensembles and orchestras he has played with include the London and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras, Orchester der Stadt Freiburg, New Japan Philharmonic, the Philharmonie de Liège, Flemish Radio, the Swedish Royal Festival Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Philharmonie de Luxembourgh, Israel Chamber Orchestra, the 'Moscow Virtuosi', the St. Petersburg "Camerata", Russian National Orchestra etc. He has worked with a wide range of conductors, including Vladimir Fedosseyev, Saulus Sandeczkis, Vasily Sinaysky, Yuri Simonov, Dimitry Kitaenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Verbitsky, Paavo Järvi, Alan Gilbert, Leonard Slatkin, Artur Fagen, Tomasso Placidi and Thomas Zanderling.

Alexander Ghindin has played in many distinguished venues worldwide, such as London's Barbican, the Avery Fisher Hall in New York; Kennedy Center in Washington; Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo; Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Salle Gaveau, Théatre des Champs Elysees, and Théatre du Chatelet in Paris; Gasteig in Munich; Rudolfium in Prague; Riksallen in Stockholm; the Teatro Olympico in Rome; the Tel Aviv Opera; the Philharmonic Halls in Warsaw and St. Petersburg; the Moscow Conservatoire and many others. In the field of chamber music, Alexander Ghindin has collaborated with Vladimir Spivakov and Nikolay Petrov for many recordings and concerts. Alexander Ghindin has recorded 15 CDs, including a recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos No. 1 and 4 in their original versions with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra led by Vladimir Ashkenazy (2001, on the Ondine label). He has also appeared on TV and Radio in Russia, Germany, Belgium, Japan, France, Luxembourg, Poland and elsewhere.