Andsnes studied with Czech pianist Jiří Hlinka at the Bergen Conservatory. He won his first major award, the Hindemith Prize, in Frankfurt in 1987, making his Oslo debut the same year. Many prizes followed: in Bergen, the Levin Prize in 1988 and the Grieg Prize in 1990; and in Oslo, the Norwegian Critics’ Prize in 1988. His Proms debut in London was made in 1992 and in the same year Andsnes received a Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Award in Los Angeles; whilst in 1997 he received the prestigious Gilmore Award. Always interested in chamber music, in 1991 Andsnes co-founded the Risør Festival of Chamber Music with Lars Anders Tomter; and in 2000 he invited to the festival tenor Ian Bostridge, with whom he has worked from then on. Other artists who have been invited to the festival include Barbara Hendricks and Maxim Vengerov. Festivals in which Andsnes has taken part include Aspen, Ravinia, Tanglewood, and the New York Mostly Mozart Festival.

In the 2001–2002 season Andsnes was established enough to give five concerts at London’s Barbican entitled Leif Ove Andsnes: Artist Profile. He played three concertos, a chamber music concert and a solo recital. December 2001 saw his debut in Russia where he played Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 Op. 30 with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, whilst during the same season Andsnes played with many of the major symphony orchestras of the world including the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland, the Concertgebouw and the Philadelphia.

more....

Discography