Leif Ove Andsnes

Born in Karmøy, Norway, in 1970, Leif Ove Andsnes completed his piano studies with Jiří Hlinka at the Bergen Music Conservatory; Jacques de Tiège, a Belgian piano teacher, was also a significant influence. Andsnes launched his international career in 1989 with performances in New York and Washington, D.C. He made his debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1990 and at the London BBC Proms in 1991. Since then, he has performed with leading orchestras from the Berliner Philharmoniker to the New York Philharmonic. Andsnes himself has also frequently served as an orchestral conductor — most notably, when performing with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which appointed him Artistic Partner. They undertook a “Beethoven Journey” from 2012 to 2015, which involved performing all of the composer’s piano concertos in 27 countries. Between 2019 and 2022, their collaboration continued with the “Mozart Momentum 1785-86.” In the 2025-26 season, Andsnes has focused on Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, performing it with such ensembles as the Chicago and London Symphony Orchestras, the Bamberg Symphony, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He played Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with the Vienna Symphony and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In January, he undertook a recital tour across the United States. Andsnes’s repertoire ranges from the 18th century to Modernist classics and contemporary works. Over the years, he has released around 60 CDs, earning the Gramophone Award on seven occasions. Most recently, in November 2025, he released a recording with Bertrand Chamayou of Schubert’s four-hand piano works. Andsnes is also a passionate chamber musician, and he directed the Risør Festival for almost 20 years in his native country; from 2016 to 2025, he led the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival every summer. Andsnes is a recipient of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav and received the Peer Gynt Prize in 2007. He resides in Bergen.

Lucerne Festival debut on 30 August 2002 as the ­soloist in Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto, with Pierre Boulez conducting the Berliner Philharmonike.

January 2026