Kirill Gerstein’s heritage combines the musical traditions of Russia, America, and Central Europe with an insatiable curiosity. From Bach to Adès, Gerstein’s artistry is distinguished by a ferocious technique and discerning intelligence, serving an imaginative musicality that places him at the top of his profession. 

Born in the former Soviet Union, Gerstein is an American citizen based in Berlin. His similarly international career ranges from concerts with the Chicago, Boston, and London symphonies, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras, and the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics, to recitals in London, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and New York. Gerstein’s flair for curation is displayed this season as Artist-in-Residence with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and as curator of the ‘Busoni and His World’ series at London’s Wigmore Hall. 

A prolific recording artist, Gerstein’s latest album on the Berlin Philharmonic’s in-house label features Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the orchestra and Kirill Petrenko at Berlin’s Waldbühne, alongside solo works from across Rachmaninoff’s career. The 2020 release of his world première performance of Adès’s Piano Concerto won a Gramophone Award and was nominated for three GRAMMYs. 

Kirill is Professor of Piano at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule. His series of free online seminars entitled ‘Kirill Gerstein Invites’ is now in its fifth season, featuring conversations with leading musicians, artists, and thinkers including Ai Weiwei, Iván Fischer, and Deborah Borda. 

Gerstein has received the Gilmore Artist Award, First Prize at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In 2021, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music.