Photo: Nicolai Froundjian

PETER FROUNDJIAN was born and raised in Berlin. He studied at the Berlin University of the Arts (HdK), including with Gerhard Puchelt. He received further valuable artistic inspiration from Walther Kaempfer, a student of Schnabel and Galston and later a music writer. For several years, he taught piano at the HdK/UdK and the Church Music School in Spandau; he has been a festival director since 1987. His pianistic activities are reflected in radio recordings and concerts featuring works by composers such as Liszt, Koechlin, Korngold, Szymanowski, Friedman, Scandinavian piano music, and Rued Langgaard, as well as in CD recordings of numerous world premiere recordings of works by Ignaz Friedman (on “Etcetera”) and Rued Langgaard (on “Danacord”). As a song accompanist, he has championed the pianistically demanding songs of Joseph Marx and Rued Langgaard on several occasions. Not least due to his successful work as a piano teacher at the North Frisia District Music School, he has been invited several times to serve as a juror at national (German national competition “Jugend musiziert”) and international piano competitions (e.g., Clara Haskil and C. Bechstein). His most recent CD recording, “Christmas Piano Music,” was released in 2017 by Sony—described by “Rondo” (12/2017) as a “discographical sensation.” With today’s program, Peter Froundjian aims to highlight the distinctive qualities of good Scandinavian piano music. He deliberately omits works by the more frequently performed composers Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen in favor of lesser-known names.