Mariam Batsashvili

Pianist Mariam Batsashvili made a major splash in her 20s with designation as an important rising artist both in Britain and on the European continent, appearances with top orchestras, and recitals in more than 30 countries. Batsashvili was born on June 1, 1993, in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. She took up the piano at age five and studied at the Evgeni Mikeladze Central Music School in Tbilisi. Identified as talented, she was sent to the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany, where she studied with Grigory Gruzman. She won the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar in 2011 and followed that up with a win at the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where she was the competition's first female prize winner. The victory propelled Batsashvili to an international run of concert appearances, not only in European countries but in such places as China, Indonesia, and Brazil. She was named a Rising Star by the European Concert Hall Organisation for the 2016-2017 season and became a BBC New Generation Artist. The latter honor opened doors in Britain, leading to appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Ulster Orchestra (at the BBC Proms). Batsashvili has appeared with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brussels Philharmonic, among other major ensembles, and she has been a guest at such summer events as the Cheltenham Festival, the Beethovenfest Bonn, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. In 2018, she appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and was immediately invited back. Batsashvili released an album of transcriptions on the Cobra label in 2016. She was then signed to the Warner Classics label and released her debut there, Chopin/Liszt, in 2019; the album featured works showing mutual influence between the two composers.
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