Louis Schwizgebel
Pianist
Born in Geneva, Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel has been described as an “insightful musician” by the New York Times and “already one of the great masters of the piano” by Res Musica.
Schwizgebel’s 2016-17 season include debuts with the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Sao Paulo Symphony, and the Aurora Orchestra in Bilbao, as well as return performances with the Orchestre Chambre de Lausanne, City of Birmingham Symphony, and Macao Symphony. He will make his recital debuts at the International Piano Series in London and the Rudolfinium for the Prague Festival. In chamber music, he debuts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and returns to the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival.
Schwizgebel has performed with orchestras across the globe including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Zurich Tonhalle, Nagoya and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestras, Utah Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NYC). He has worked with conductors such as Edward Gardner, Thierry Fischer, MirgaGražinytė-Tyla, Joshua Weilerstein, Lahav Shani, Robin Ticciati, Fabio Luisi, Leonard Slatkin, Louis Langrée, Alondra de la Parra, James Gaffigan, and Fabian Gabel.
As an avid promoter of recital and chamber music, Schwizgebel has attended major festivals: Lucerne, Progetto Martha Argerich, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Rheingau, and Verbier Festival. His 2014 BBC Proms debut involved an electrifying televised performance of Prokofiev’s First Concerto. Recent recitals venues include performances at London’s Wigmore Hall, Klavierfest Ruhr, Lugano, Fribourg International Piano Series, Munich’s Herkulesaal, and tours across Hong Kong and China.
In international competition, Schwizgebel has received the highest honors. He won the Geneva International Music Competition at the age of seventeen and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York at nineteen. In 2012 he received second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and from 2013-15 he was invited to become a BBC New Generation Artist.
Schwizgebel records for the Aparté label. In his latest release Schubert: Piano Sonatas D. 845 & D. 958 (2016) was said to “plumb the depths of the romantic soul, taking a path of nostalgia, vehemence and introspection” by Radio Classique. Past recordings of Saint-Saens’s Piano Concertos 2 and 5 (2015) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (2014) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra have received wide critical acclaim, describing his playing as “gorgeously singing and wonderfully delicate” (BBC Music Magazine) and “a beautifully nuanced account” (Gramophone). His solo disc Poems (2013), featuring works by Ravel, Liszt, Holliger and Schubert, was given four stars by Germany’s Fono Forum who hailed Schwizgebel “a genuine virtuoso, a spirited young genius with real depth”.
Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne, Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, Pascal Nemirovski at London’s Royal Academy of Muisc, and with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald at Julliard. He is grateful for the support he has received from the Migros Culture Percentage, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund, and Animato Foundation.
Fall 2016, 484 words
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