Artist-in-Residence (25/26), Dresden Philharmonic

Guest Artistic Curator (25/26 – 27/28), Portland Piano International

Boris Giltburg is praised worldwide as an exceptionally sensitive, empathetic, and captivating interpreter whose playing is shaped by a narrative approach. Critics commend his “interplay of spiritual calm and emphatic commitment” as “gripping … one could not wish for a more illuminating, lyrical, and richly phrased interpretation” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

In the 2025/26 season, Giltburg performs with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Warsaw Philharmonic, Essen Philharmonic, Basque National Orchestra, and Taipei Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the season, he will serve as Artist-in-Residence with the Dresden Philharmonic and later embark on an Italian tour with the orchestra. He will work with leading conductors such as Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Krzysztof Urbański, Dima Slobodeniouk, Dalia Stasevska, Kahchun Wong, Jun Märkl, and Anja Bihlmaier. Giltburg’s extensive list of collaborations with renowned orchestras includes the Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Kirill Petrenko, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Seoul Philharmonic.

Giltburg regularly gives recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, BOZAR in Brussels, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Rudolfinum in Prague, and Vienna Konzerthaus. Following the success of his Beethoven sonata cycle—eight sold-out concerts at Wigmore Hall—he continues the project at Flagey in Brussels, Palau de la Música in Valencia, and Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile. In recent years, he has also devoted himself to major composers such as Ravel and Chopin.

Giltburg is widely regarded as a leading Rachmaninov interpreter: “His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind, served by immaculate technique and motivated by a deep and abiding love for one of the 20th century’s greatest composer-pianists” (Gramophone). At the opening weekend of the Southbank Centre’s 2025/26 season, he will perform the complete Rachmaninov Preludes and Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra as part of London’s innovative Bold Tendencies project.

In 2025, Giltburg released an album featuring Rachmaninov’s groundbreaking Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, along with his own version of The Isle of the Dead based on Georgy Kirkor’s arrangement. The album was selected for the 2/2025 Critics’ Choice List by the jury of the German Record Critics’ Award.

As a consummate recording artist, Giltburg has recorded exclusively for Naxos since 2015. He has received the Opus Klassik for Best Soloist Recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos and Études-Tableaux, as well as a Diapason d’Or for Shostakovich’s Piano Concertos and his own arrangement of Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet for piano. Among other accolades, he has also won a Gramophone Award for the Dvořák Piano Quintet on Supraphon with his regular collaborators, the Pavel Haas Quartet, as well as a Diapason d’Or and Choc de Classica for their joint release of Brahms’s Piano Quintet.

Giltburg is deeply committed to reaching and inspiring audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog Classical Music for All is aimed at a non-specialist audience and is complemented by articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, The Times, Fono Forum, and Crescendo.

* TYB Arts represents Boris Giltburg in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Updated October 2025