Great Pianists of the New Generation

"I call it 'simple music for complex emotions'. The world is a hectic place right now and I feel a deep urge to reconnect on a basic human level with people in general. Music as our universal language has the power to unite." Dutch composer and musician Joep Beving is a towering figure in the streaming world – and in real life too, thanks to his two-metre frame (nearly 6'10), wild hair and flowing beard. Joep’s delicate melodies instantly struck a chord with listeners. His first DG album 'Prehension' displays introspective, melancholy, filmic and uplifting characteristics – presented in a simple, warm acoustic atmosphere which will help soothe the soul.

Born on 28 May 1994, in Seoul (South Korea), Seong-Jin Cho is today based in Paris. He won the International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in 2008 and the Hamamatsu Piano Competition in Japan in 2009, as well as Third Prizes in both the Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia in 2011 and the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv in 2014.

Renaissance woman Hélène Grimaud is not just a deeply passionate and committed musical artist whose pianistic accomplishments play a central role in her life. She is a woman with multiple talents that extend far beyond the instrument she plays with such poetic expression and peerless technical control. The French artist has established herself as a committed wildlife conservationist, a compassionate human rights activist and as a writer.

It was not long before he became a pianist –

not just any pianist but one of the greats, hailed by the New

York Times as the “hottest artist on the classical music planet”

and named by Time magazine among the world’s 100 most  influential people. Lang Lang has been heard around the

world, performing solo recitals, as well as concertos with the

finest orchestras and conductors. Billions were entranced when the Chinese musician performed at the opening ceremony of

the Beijing Olympics. Countless others, meanwhile, have been

inspired to take piano lessons by the energy and intensity of his

charismatic artistry.

At just 21, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki has won acclaim for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility. The New York Times has called him “a pianist who makes every note count”. Lisiecki’s insightful interpretations, refined technique, and natural affinity for art give him a musical voice that belies his age. Jan Lisiecki was born to Polish parents in Canada in 1995. He began piano lessons at the age of five and made his concerto debut four years later, while always rebuffing the label of "child prodigy”. His approach to music is a refreshing combination of dedication, skill, enthusiasm and a realistic perspective on the career of a musician. "I might be lucky to have talent, but it is also about dedication and hard work,” says Jan.

Víkingur grew up in Iceland where he studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Máté. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. Possessing a rare combination of passionate musicality, explosive virtuosity and intellectual curiosity, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has won all the major prizes in his native country, including four Musician of the Year prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards as well as The Icelandic Optimism Prize.

Armed with formidable technical mastery and profound musical sensitivity, Alice Sara Ott stands among the most compelling artists of her generation. The German-Japanese musician’s poetic pianism, hailed by critics for its refinement and intensity, has prompted favourable comparisons with great performers from the past.

If there is such a thing as progress in the music of the 21st century, then it is to be found in the crumbling of stylistic frontiers. The old boundaries can still be made out, the checkpoints and barriers, but they no longer stop musicians picking up signals from far and wide. Nor should it be forgotten that the craft of music-making has been changed by the computer, which can and will be used in all its fields of application, from first sketches of early ideas to reviewing and filtering, through its precise implementation in the sequencer to its realization in sound, which in the works of Max Richter for example is extrapolated into new frequencies, into subsonic depths and ultra-high heights that could scarcely be attained with traditional instruments, after which the computer is still needed for the editing and packaging of the newly created work.

Whenever Daniil Trifonov performs, time appears to stand still. Out of profound silence emerges a rare kind of music-making, transcendent and revelatory, never predictable yet always alive to the composer’s intentions and rooted in the music’s nature. “What he does with his hands is technically incredible,” observed one commentator shortly after the young Russian pianist’s winning performance in the final of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2011.

Yuja Wang is widely recognized as one of the most important artists of her generation, both for her supreme musicianship and her ability to captivate audiences of all ages. “Hers is a nonchalant, brilliant keyboard virtuosity that would have made both Prokofiev (who was a great pianist) and even the fabled Horowitz jealous,” observed the Los Angeles Times after one sensational performance at the Hollywood Bowl.