Behzod Abduraimov’s performances combine an immense depth of musicality with phenomenal technique and breathtaking delicacy. He performs with renowned orchestras worldwide, including Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouworkest, and with prestigious conductors such as Juraj Valčuha, Vasily Petrenko, Lorenzo Viotti, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrůša, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Gustavo Dudamel.
2022–23 European performances include concerts with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and as part of Belgian National Orchestra’s Rachmaninoff Festival. In North America Behzod will return to The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others. He will also return to NHK Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda to perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Other conductor collaborations include Semyon Bychkov, Karina Canellakis, Constantinos Carydis, Aziz Shokhakimov and Xian Zhang.
The summer of 2022 saw Behzod’s third appearance at the BBC Proms, this time performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard. He also returned to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and to the Queensland and West Australian symphony orchestras.
In recital Behzod has appeared a number of times at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and he has recently been presented by Alte Oper, Frankfurt; Amare Hall, The Hague; Vancouver Recital Society; and at The Conrad Center, La Jolla. In 2022–23 recitals will include Meany Hall, Seattle; Spivey Hall, Atlanta; and La Società dei Concerti di Milano, to mention a few. Regular festival appearances include the Aspen, Verbier, Rheingau, La Roque Antheron and Lucerne festivals.
2021 saw the highly successful release of his recital album for Alpha Classics based on a program of miniatures, including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In 2020, recordings included Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under James Gaffigan, recorded on Rachmaninoff’s own piano from Villa Senar (Sony Classical), and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Concertgebouworkest (RCO Live). Both recordings were nominated for the 2020 Opus Klassik awards in multiple categories. A DVD of his BBC Proms debut in 2016, with Münchner Philharmoniker, was released in 2018. His 2012 debut CD of Liszt, Saint-Saëns and Prokofiev for Decca won the Choc de Classica and Diapason Découverte, and his first concerto disc for the label featured Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1.
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Abduraimov began the piano at age five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent. In 2009, he won First Prize at the London International Piano Competition with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. He studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University, Missouri, where he is Artist-in-Residence.
Photo Credit: Evgeny Eutykhov