Kirill Gerstein – March 4, 2021

Kirill Gerstein’s heritage combines the traditions of Russian, American and Central European music-making with an insatiable curiosity. These qualities and the relationships that he has developed with orchestras, conductors, instrumentalists, singers and composers, have led him to explore a huge spectrum of repertoire both new and old. From Bach to Adès, Gerstein’s playing is distinguished by its clarity of expression, discerning intelligence and virtuosity, and an energetic, imaginative musical presence that places him at the top of his profession.

Born in the former Soviet Union, Gerstein is an American citizen based in Berlin. His career is similarly international, with solo and concerto engagements taking him across Europe and the United States, to China and Australia.

A long-time believer in the role of teaching in the life of a musician, Kirill Gerstein is currently on the faculty of Kronberg Academy and Professor of Piano at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule, having previously led piano classes for ten years at the Stuttgart Musik Hochschule. In response to the impact of the global pandemic, Gerstein launched a series of free and open online seminars titled Kirill Gerstein invites – now into its third season hosted by Kronberg Academy – featuring conversations with leading musicians, musicologists and philosophers. The series opened with Andreas Staier and guest speakers have included Iván Fischer, Ian Bostridge, Thomas Adès, Brad Mehldau, Anthony Fogg and Paul Boghossian. Gerstein’s flexibility and breadth of knowledge of the repertoire were also successfully put to work with changes in repertoire for already scheduled concerts including from Adès to Schoenberg with the Swedish Radio Symphony, as well as invitations from Daniel Hope to curate TV recital programmes for his Hope@Home on tour series in Berlin and Bonn at short notice.