Andrew Zolinsky is a British pianist. After winning first prize in the San Francisco International Piano Concerto Competition, Andrew Zolinsky has established a reputation as one of the most imaginative and exciting pianists of his generation.

Recent performances have included a concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia 21 and the New London Orchestra. He has worked with many distinguished conductors including Diego Masson, Martyn Brabbins, Nicholas Cleobury, Ronald Corp and Simon Joly. Zolinsky has performed at most of the major venues in this country and has given many broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, and has also given solo recitals on Classic FM, German Radio, Czech Radio and two recitals of contemporary Irish music for BBC Radio Ulster.

In the field of contemporary music Andrew is much in demand and has worked with Composers' Ensemble, Capricorn, Eos and since 1997 has been a member of the ground-breaking British group Icebreaker. He has worked with the leading composers of today including Simon Holt, Louis Andriessen, Poul Ruders, Michael Finnissy, Martin Butler, John Godfrey and has a particularly strong association with the music of David Lang, who wrote his piano concerto Fur for Zolinsky in 2005. Also in 2005 he gave the London premiere, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of Unsuk Chin’s piano concerto and the first performance of a new set of pieces especially written for Zolinsky by Michael Zev Gordon.

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Andrew Zolinsky is not only a pianist of technical mastery and interpretive vision, but also a versatile pianist whose outstanding repertoire ranges from early classical works to the most avant-garde repertoire. His close relationships with Simon Holt, Unsuk Chin, Michael Finnissy, Martin Butler and David Lang have led to a series of world premieres, including David Lang’s ‘Memory pieces’ (New York, 2000), ‘Psalms without Words’ (New York, 2003) as well as his piano concerto commissioned by the BBC and premiered in 2004 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Grant Llewellyn.

Andrew is a keen exponent of the music of Unsuk Chin, and performed her complete Etudes for solo piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in February 2007 as part of a festival celebrating the Korean composer’s work;he recently gave the French premi�re of the Etudes at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg. Andrew also gave the London premi�re of her Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as a result of which, the orchestra immediately invited him back to perform the Barber Concerto, which was later broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The recipient of an English speaking Union scholarship at the age of eight, Andrew began his piano studies at the highly renowned ‘Purcell School’ with teachers Hilary Macnamara and Stephen Betteridge, and took part in masterclasses with Tamas Vasary, John Ogdon and Albert Ferber. He then attended Phyllis Sellick’s class at the Royal College of music where he won most of the college’s top prizes. In 1998, Andrew Zolinsky won first prize in ‘The San Francisco International Piano Concerto Competition’.

In addition to his appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Andrew has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra and Sinfonia 21, and has worked under the baton of such distinguished conductors as David Robertson, Diego Masson, Martyn Brabbins, Nicholas Cleobury, Robin Stapleton, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Simon Joly. Andrew recently made his debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Charles Hazlewood in a performance of Beethoven’s third Concerto.’

Andrew has also appeared at the Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Symphony Hall, and he has been heard on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, German Radio, Czech Radio and the BBC Radio Ulster, the latter for two recitals of works by Irish composers. His most recent recordings include the complete piano music of Schoenberg (Mollterz label) and a CD of modern Swiss composers for Guild (both in 2006). NMC will release Andrew’s recording of the complete solo piano music of Michael Zev Gordon in 2009. Also due for release in 2009 is a disc of the solo piano music of David Lang on the American label, Canteloupe.

In May 2009, as part of BBC Radio Three’s Mendelssohn weekend, Andrew can be heard giving the premieres of six specially commissioned short pieces influenced by the ‘Songs without words’, and also in a programme of original Mendelssohn.

Andrew is Head of Keyboard at the London College of Music, and regularly gives masterclasses and concerts at the Dartington International Summer School. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.