Kristhyan Benitez

Pianist Kristhyan Benitez gained international exposure when he signed with the Steinway & Sons label in the early 2020s. His first two albums there have featured exclusively Latin American works. Benitez was born around 1984 in Caracas, Venezuela. He took up the piano at age four, and in an online bio, he refers to himself as a "Classical Pianist, Apr 1988-present"; he gave his first public concert in 1988. His training had Venezuelan, European, and American aspects. Benitez attended Oberlin College in Ohio, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2003. He went on for a second bachelor's degree at the Manhattan School of Music, graduating in 2005. Benitez then spent a year in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, earning a performance diploma in 2006. He went on for a master's degree at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, completing that degree in 2008, and then moved to the U.S., earning a graduate performance diploma at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2010, and rounding out his education there with an artist diploma in 2013. During his time at Berklee, his principal teacher was Michael Lewin, also a part of the Steinway & Sons roster. He made his debut recording in 2016 with the Berliner Symphoniker under conductor Eduardo Marturet. Returning to Venezuela, Benitez served as artist-in-residence at the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar, the organizational aegis of the El Sistema national music education network. However, he is based mostly in New York. Benitez has appeared around South America, the U.S., Europe, and Asia, with performances at such major venues as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center in New York, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, and the Philharmonie in Berlin. He recorded several more albums for small labels in the late 2010s, winning a bronze medal at the Global Music Awards for his album Miniatures. Benitez was signed to the Steinway & Sons label and released his debut album there, Latin American Classics, in August of 2020. The release won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. Benitez's second Steinway & Sons album, featuring Ernesto Lecuona's Afro-Cuban Dances, was nominated in the same category in 2023.
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