Till Fellner

Pianist Till Fellner plays with scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command—qualities that have earned him acclaim throughout Europe, the United States and Japan. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have placed him among the elect in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of such 20^th century masters as György Kurtág and Elliott Carter have earned him many accolades.

Till Fellner’s thrilling 2018/2019 season brings him back for Mozart with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and Alain Altingolu, to the Pittsburgh Symphony for Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with Manfred Honeck and to the Minnesota Orchestra with Kent Nagano performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 27. Till Fellner will be touring extensively with cellist Johannes Moser around Europe and the USA.

Highlights during the 2017/2018 season included Till Fellner’s debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a return to the Chicago Symphony for a subscription week with frequent collaborator Manfred Honeck. In Europe, he appeared with Le Concert Olympique, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. And, a busy recital schedule included Paris, Vienna, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and throughout Germany, Belgium and France.

Last season, Till returned to the Montreal Symphony for performances of Beethoven Concerto No. 4 with Kent Nagano – a work they have previously recorded together on the ECM label; and to the Pittsburgh Symphony with Manfred Honeck and collaborated again with Maestro Nagano in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy at the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

Past highlights: Till Fellner made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic with Bernard Haitink and appeared with the NHK and Chicago Symphonies, the Osaka Philharmonic, Le Concert Olympique, and with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner. He continued his partnership with tenor Mark Padmore and with the Belcea Quartet. He was heard in solo recitals in Lyon, Boston, Amsterdam, at the Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Performances, Monte Carlo, and at the Gilmore Festival in Michigan, among other places. Fellner completed his critically acclaimed complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle, which he performed over three seasons in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Wigmore Hall in London, the Salle Gaveau in Paris, and Toppan Hall in Tokyo. He appeared at the Orford Festival International de Musique with Kent Nagano and the Montréal Symphony; with the Orchestre National de France, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and with the Munich Philharmonic. He was Artist-in-Residence with the Bamberg Symphony where he played numerous programs, including concerts with Herbert Blomstedt and Manfred Honeck. He has appeared in recital throughout Europe and America, and in Russia, Japan, and Malaysia.

A touch of history: Till Fellner came to world attention by winning First Prize at the distinguished Clara Haskil International Piano Competition at Vevey, Switzerland (1993). Since that time, Fellner has appeared as guest soloist with many of the world’s foremost orchestras, working with renowned conductors Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Franz Welser-Möst, among many others. He has also performed as partner to cellist Heinrich Schiff and violinist Viviane Hagner, as well as with Mr. Padmore, Lisa Batiashvili and Adrian Brendel.

Till Fellner has an impressive discography to his credit on the EMI, Claves, Erato, Philips, and ECM labels, the most recent release being a CD of Harrison Birtwistle’s Chamber Music with Lisa Batiashvili, Adrian Brendel, et al. His 2010 ECM recording of the Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5, with Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, was singled out for its clarity and impeccable beauty. Fellner appears on an ECM album of new works by Thomas Larcher, and his recording of Bach’s Two-and Three-Part Inventions and French Suite No. 5 has received widespread critical praise, in keeping with his acclaimed ECM recording of the first book of Bach’s monumental Well-Tempered Clavier.

Till Fellner was a student of Helene Sedo-Stadler and has studied privately with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg, and Claus-Christian Schuster.