Krystian Zimerman has won the 33rd “Praemium Imperiale” Award.

<Krystian Zimerman>

Renowned for combining expressive originality with clarity and precision, Krystian Zimerman has taken the possibilities of piano performance to new heights. Born in Poland, Zimerman began studying piano seriously at the age of seven, winning the Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of eighteen. The following year he made his recording debut. Throughout his career, he has recorded and performed with many of the greatest conductors, including Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. On the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death (1999), he formed the Polish Festival Orchestra, bringing together talented Polish musicians to focus on the performance of Chopin’s work.

Zimerman’s extraordinary artistry is inextricably linked to his deep technical understanding of his instrument. Zimerman knows every facet of the piano’s mechanism and believes that, “pianists should be interested in their instruments.” He tunes and assembles his own pianos and has a thorough knowledge of their mechanisms and acoustics, which supports his exquisite and delicate playing. He combines his natural talent and technical skills with his desire to understand the great composers’ works; reading their letters, searching for clues that unlock the problems that musicians sometimes face. After long periods of intense study and reflection he will then record – most recently, Beethoven’s complete piano concertos to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, released to great critical acclaim.