In 2019 Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, as well as the Grand Prix, awarded only three times before in the competition’s history. He has been hailed by critics as ‘the reincarna tion of Liszt’ (Fanfare), and in September 2023 he became the youngest and first French winner of the Gilmore Artist Award, one of the most prestigious and important American and international music prizes, awarded every four years. Alexandre Kantorow has appeared with some of the world’s greatest conductors.

In recent years these have included Manfred Honeck with the Pitts – burgh Symphony Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms in London, John Eliot Gardiner with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Valery Gergiev with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and Iván Fischer with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Alexandre Kantorow has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors. In recent years, he has appeared with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms in London, John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, as well as Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. He has also toured internationally with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden, and with the Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru.

In recital, he performs in some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, such as Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in its Master Pianists series, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Philharmonie de Paris, Bozar in Brussels, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall… and at the most prestigious festivals including La Roque d’Anthéron, the Ravinia Festival, the Verbier Festival, and the Klavier-Festival Ruhr.

Chamber music is also one of his great passions, which he shares notably with Liya Petrova and Aurélien Pascal. He is co-artistic director alongside them of the Musikfest and the “Rencontres Musicales de Nîmes,” as well as the Pianopolis festival in Angers.

Alexandre Kantorow records exclusively for BIS. His recordings have received the highest critical acclaim worldwide.

In 2024, Alexandre was awarded the title of Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by the French President of the Republic, having already been made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture. In July 2024, performing Ravel’s Jeux d’eau, Alexandre appeared at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

Alexandre Kantorow studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley, and Rena Shereshevskaya.