Christian Zacharias

Christian Zacharias is considered to be one of the great German pianists of today and one of the most remarkable musical explorers of our time. Known for his consistent and uncompromising individuality, Christian Zacharias achieved international attention as prizewinner in the Geneva Competition in 1969 and the Van Cliburn Competition in 1973. In 1975, he won the First Prize in the Ravel Competition in Paris and began an international career encompassing recitals in all the major international venues, award-winning recordings and concerts with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Christian Zacharias also appears in chamber music recitals with partners such as the Alban Berg Quartet, the Guarneri Quartet, the Leipziger String Quartet, Heinrich Schiff and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

In 1992, Christian Zacharias launched his conducting career, making his debut conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva. This was soon followed by invitations to conduct the Bamberg Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orquesta Simfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya, the Orquesta Nacional de Espaòa and the Orchestra of the Frankfurter Museumsgesellschaft.

His US-Debut as a conductor took place in 2000 conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by his conducting debuts at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Avery Fisher Hall, New York, and with the National Symphony and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. In September 2000, Christian Zacharias assumed the post of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.

He started his tenure as principal guest conductor of the Göteborgs Symfoniker in the season 2002/ 2003.The season 2005/ 2006 has included his succesful conducting debuts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Cologne (WDR) as well as the production of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” at the Geneva Opera House.As first highlight of the new season 2006/ 2007, Christian Zacharias already returned to the Mostly Mozart Festival.

Furthermore, he has been re-invited – as Artistic Director – to the Mozart Festival Barcelona where Christian Zacharias conducted the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona combining works by Mozart and Stravinsky in three different programmes. Further important projects of 2006/ 2007 are his conducting debut with the NDR Sinfonieorchester as well as a tour throughout Spain together with the Göteborg Symphonics in December 2006.

Christian Zacharias has been recording on the EMI label through 1997 and since 1998 he has a recording contract with Dabringhaus and Grimm. For his recording of the Scarlatti sonatas, Christian Zacharias received the Edison Award. He also appears in three documentary films: “Domenico Scarlatti in Seville”, “Robert Schumann – the poet speaks” (both for INA in Paris) and “Between stage and greenroom” (for WDR-arte).Christian Zacharias studied with Irene Slavin and Vlado Perlemuter in Paris.