Boris Giltburg

"He’s a smiling, elfin presence, and he made Liszt’s concerto seem a fleet-footed and glittery thing, the lyrical moments quiet and inward rather than showy."
The Daily Telegraph

Born in 1984 in Moscow, Boris Giltburg began his piano studies with his mother at the age of five. He has lived in Tel Aviv since early childhood, where he studied with Arie Vardi. He has been awarded prizes at numerous international competitions, notably at Santander, where in 2002 he won the top prize and the Sony Audience Prize for his interpretation of Bartók’s Concerto No.3 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.

Since his breakthrough appearance with the Philharmonia in the Royal Festival Hall under Pletnev in 2007, Giltburg has been an annual visitor to their London season, and a popular guest with the Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. This year he will make his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony under Martyn Brabbins, playing Liszt Piano Concerto No.1.

In recent months he has appeared with the DSO Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and Prague Symphony - where he has been a regular visitor ever since his spectacular debut with the orchestra on tour in Tokyo in 2005. He made his first tour of China in 2007.

As a result of an audition with Zubin Mehta, Giltburg made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic in February 2005. He is a regular guest of the Jerusalem Symphony (with whom he plays Rachmaninov 2 in Spring 2011) and the Israel Chamber, with whom, as a teenager, he toured the USA under the direction of Philippe Entremont. He made his North American orchestra debut in 2007 with the Indianapolis Symphony, and received numerous reinvitations after his recital tour of the USA in December 2009.

Giltburg has played recitals to audiences across Europe in major venues such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Paris Louvre, Zurich Tonhalle, Wigmore Hall, London’s Southbank Centre, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and Madrid Sony Auditorium. Festival appearances have included the Klavierfest am Ruhr, Schwetzingen, Luzern, Piano aux Jacobins and Cheltenham where he was Artist in Residence in 2007 and remains a regular visitor. He regularly plays chamber music with members of the Israel Philharmonic.

In 11/12 Giltburg makes his London Philharmonic debut under Neeme Jaervi at the Royal Festival Hall (Rachmaninov 2); plays Dohnanyi’s Nursery Variations with the Danish Radio Symphony under Vasily Petrenko, and returns after several previous visits to the Malmo Symphony for Brahms 2, the Bournemouth Symphony for Chopin 1 and the Prague Symphony for Shostakovich 2. He appears in recital from Vancouver to Tel Aviv, taking in Prague, Stuttgart and the Wigmore Hall on the way.

Giltburg has recorded for the EMI Debut label (Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Scriabin) and has a live recital DVD available on VAI. He was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2008.

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