Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili performs much loved piano works alongside a new work, commissioned by ECHO by Georgian composer Natalie Beridze. The concert is part of the Rising Stars Festival in Harpa in May 2026.

Program

Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757)

Sonata in C-Major K487

Sonata in D-major K29

Sonata in A-major K113

Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Ballade No. 4 in f-minor op. 52

Natalie Beridze (1979)

Holy Atoms for piano solo (2025)

Lily Boulanger (1893 - 1918)

Trois Morceaux pour piano

1. D'un vieux Jardin

2. D'un jardin clair

Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)

Miroirs

Giorgi Gigashvili

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2000, Giorgi Gigashvili studied the piano without ever considering pursuing a professional career as a pianist. Passionate about the folksongs of his country, he likes to arrange and sing this music - he even participated in the Georgian version of ‘The Voice’, taking home the top prize at the tender age of thirteen.

In April 2019 he won 1st Prize at the Vigo International Piano Competition, with Martha Argerich as president of the jury. In 2021, he received the Hortense Anda-Bührle Special Prize at the Fifteenth Géza Anda Competition in Zurich; this enabled the Géza Anda Foundation to recommend him for participation in the KlavierOlymp in Bad Kissingen, where he won First Prize and the Audience Prize. In March 2023, Giorgi won the 2nd Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition and was also awarded the Junior Jury Prize, the Prize for the best chamber music and 5 out of 6 audience prizes. In spring 2024, he received the Terrence Judd-Hallé Award; in autumn 2024, he was awarded the Musikpreis of the German Economy and the Audience Prize of the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

His debut album “Meeting my Shadow” was released in April 2023 with Alpha Classics. His next solo album with works by Prokofiev will be released by Alpha in early 2026.

As part of his nomination as an ECHO Rising Star 2025/26, he will perform in the most important European theatres, including Barbican Centre London, Bozar Brussels, Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, Philharmonie de Paris, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Palau de la Musica Barcelona, Müpa Budapest, Philharmonie Luxemburg, Wiener Konzerthaus, and many more.

Furthermore, he has engagements with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Hamburgisches Staatsorchester and Münchener Philharmoniker. A special highlight will be the recital tour with Lisa Batiashvili in Europe and North America in spring 2026.

Giorgi fuses his career as a classical pianist with his passion for electronic and experimental music: “Georgian on my mind” is a program featuring singer Nini Nutsubidze and is connecting Georgian folk songs with classical pieces by e.g. Chopin or Bartók. “Serious Music” featuring Nikala is a one-of-a-kind stage experiment where classics meet modernity, a synthesis of academic and electronic music. Both projects, as well as the world premiere of Giorgi’s self-composed work for orchestra, piano and electronics were premiered as part of his fellowship at the Beethovenfest Bonn in September 2024.

Rising Stars