Boris Giltburg made his debut with the North Carolina Symphony in March of 2024, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in concerts conducted by Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto in Raleigh.
Boris Giltburg is widely regarded as a leading Rachmaninoff interpreter. As Gramophone noted: “His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind, served by immaculate technique and motivated by a deep and abiding love for one of the 20th century’s greatest composer-pianists.” His most recent release of early Rachmaninoff piano cycles, a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, continues his complete Rachmaninoff recordings.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include his debut in the Elbphilharmonie’s Grand Hall performing Gershwin’s Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Edward Gardner. As Artist-in-Residence with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he works with Mark Wigglesworth on two programs – a partnership extending to Brahms’s Second Concerto in Warsaw. Further debuts include the KBS Symphony in Seoul and the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa. He joins the Osaka Philharmonic under Kahchun Wong and returns to the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, the Residentie Orkest and the Tampere Philharmonic. As Associate Artist at Wigmore Hall, he gives three recitals exploring Prokofiev, while also performing at “Le Grand Récital” Lausanne and returning to Premiere Performances in Hong Kong, the Berlin Piano Festival, and Portland Piano International, where he serves as Guest Artistic Curator. He reunites with his frequent collaborators the Pavel Haas Quartet for chamber music at the Seoul Arts Center.
In recent years, Beethoven has become one of the focal points of Giltburg’s career. In 2020 he filmed and recorded all 32 piano sonatas to critical acclaim, with the Süddeutsche Zeitung writing of “miracles of musical reflection” and BBC Music Magazine noting: “These interpretations are enormously pleasurable and at times revelatory… Giltburg’s pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven.” His complete sonata cycle across eight sold-out recitals at Wigmore Hall in 2024/25 was followed last season by the launch of further cycles in Brussels, Valencia, and Santiago de Chile–all three will conclude in 2027, the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death. This season he performs the complete piano concertos with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Thierry Fischer in January 2027, and plays individual concertos with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and with the George Enescu Philharmonic. Beethoven recitals take him to the Rudolfinum in Prague, and to Switzerland, Denmark, the UK, the USA, and South Korea.
Recently, his live recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas launched the digital-exclusive partnership between Wigmore Hall and Apple Music Classical. A consummate recording artist, Giltburg has received an Opus Klassik and Diapason d’Or for his Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich albums. He has also won a Gramophone Award, a Diapason d’Or, and Choc de Classica for his recordings with the Pavel Haas Quartet.
Winner of the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Giltburg feels a strong urge to engage audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog “Classical Music for All” is aimed at a non-specialist audience, which he complements with articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, The Times, and Fono Forum.
