Photo: private

Born in Lisbon in 1968, Artur Pizarro gave his first public concert at the age of three. The following year, he appeared on Portuguese television (RTP) alongside Professor Campos Coelho (a student of Vianna da Motta, Isidor Philipp, and Ricardo Viñes) on Victorino d’Almeida’s program *Histórias da Música*. His early piano lessons were guided by his maternal grandmother, the pianist Berta da Nóbrega, and Professor Campos Coelho. From 1974 to 1990, Artur Pizarro studied in Portugal and the USA with Sequeira Costa (also a student of Vianna da Motta, as well as Mark Hambourg, Marguerite Long, Jacques Février, and Edwin Fischer). For a year, he also attended Aldo Ciccolini’s class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and received instruction from Bruno Rigutto. This exceptional line of teachers provided Artur Pizarro with rare, direct knowledge of the French and German piano schools from the Golden Age of 20th-century pianism. Artur Pizarro won three first prizes at international competitions: in 1987 at the Concurso Vianna da Motta, in 1989 at the Greater Palm Beach Invitational Piano Competition (where six winners of international competitions competed), and in 1990 at the Leeds International Piano Competition, which definitively established his major international career. He performs regularly in solo recitals, as a piano duo with Rinaldo Zhok, and in chamber music concerts. Furthermore, he performs with the world’s most prestigious orchestras under conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Entremont, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Sir Andrew Davis, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov, and Vladimir Fedoseev. His extensive discography includes recordings for labels such as Collins Classics, Hyperion Records, Linn Records, Brilliant Classics, Klara, Naxos, and Danacord. Most recently, he completed the complete recording of Rachmaninoff’s piano works and Beethoven’s five piano concertos with the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra on the Odradek label. Together with Rinaldo Zhok, he recorded two CDs of works by Dvořák and Beethoven for piano four hands. For his artistic achievements, Artur Pizarro has been awarded the Prémio Bordalo, the Prémio SPA, the Medalha de Mérito Cultural of the city of Funchal, and the Medalha de Mérito Cultural of Portugal in his native Portugal.