Levine PianoFest

Our 2026 guest artist will be Brian Ganz.

Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation.

Mr. Ganz shared first prize in the 1989 Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition and was third prize-winner of the 1991 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition. He has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony (USA), the National Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the conductors he has performed with are Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Piotr Gajewski, and Yoel Levi.

The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years Mr. Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy onstage to produce a new kind of listening experience, in which great works come to life with authentic emotional power. As one of Belgium’s leading newspapers, La Libre Belgique, put it, “We don’t have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy.”

In January of 2011 Mr. Ganz began a multi-year project in partnership with the National Philharmonic in which he will perform the complete works of Frédéric Chopin at the Music Center at Strathmore. After the inaugural recital, The Washington Post wrote: “Brian Ganz was masterly in his first installment of the complete works [of Chopin].” His February 2024 recital, entitled “Chopin the Virtuoso,” marked the 13th of the series. The next recital will take place on Chopin’s birthday, March 1, 2025.

Mr. Ganz is on the piano faculty of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he is artist-in-residence, and has recently retired after 21 years on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory. He is the artist-editor of the Schirmer Performance Edition of Chopin’s Preludes (2005). Pre-pandemic performance highlights include Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Alba Music Festival in Italy and with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 466 with the Annapolis Symphony, and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Billings Symphony (now viewable on YouTube).

In September of 2019, Mr. Ganz made his debut as an actor and playwright at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Freer and Sackler Galleries. The play imagined a dialogue between American artist James Whistler and a musician who explores the connections between Debussy’s music and the artist’s “10 O’Clock Lecture.” Included in the play are portions of the lecture itself along with performances of the music of Debussy and composers under his influence. Most recently, Mr. Ganz performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Virginia Chamber Orchestra at the recently opened Capital One Hall in Northern Virginia. He will join the Annapolis Symphony this October both in Annapolis and at the Strathmore Music Center in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488.

Repertoire requirements: 2-3 solo pieces and one ensemble work (assigned by June 1)

July 20 – 26
Monday – Thursday, 1 – 8 PM
Friday, 10 AM field trip
Saturday, 12:30 – 4 PM
Sunday, 1:30 – 5 PM

For more information, please contact Martin Labazevitch, Piano Faculty Member at mlabazevitch@levinemusic.org