Alexandre Kantorow

Alexandre Kantorow (born 20 May 1997) is a French pianist. Described by Gramophone as a "fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm" and by Fanfare as "Liszt reincarnated", With this win, Kantorow became the first French winner in the history of the competition.

Biography Alexandre Kantorow was born in Clermont-Ferrand to a family of musicians in 1997. His father is the violinist and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow and his mother, Kathryn Dean, is also a violinist. and has since appeared at such festivals as the Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron, the Festival Chopin à Paris, and the Festival Piano aux Jacobins. He has since appeared at major concert halls including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the BOZAR in Brussels, and the auditorium in the Louis Vuitton Foundation. After Lazko, Kantorow studied with , who was also the teacher of Lucas Debargue, at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.

In 2023 Kantorow won the prestigious $300,000 Gilmore Artist Award. Gilmore Award is not a competition, so Kantorow was unaware that he was considered for it, and when he received the news described it as "It was a bit like a 'You're a wizard, Harry,' kind of moment, from Harry Potter." The award's jury members were "impressed by his charisma, curiosity and 'inquisitive nature'". Zachary Woolfe noted that to win both the Tchaikovsky Competition and Gilmore Award "suggests Kantorow has technical security as well as something to say".

On 26 July 2024 he performed Maurice Ravel's "Jeux d’Eau" during the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony under the "pouring rain"; his performance was described as "heroic and unflappable".

In 2024, he was made a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit, and before that a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

In 2025, Kantorow played Sergei Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto and Franz Liszt's transcription of the “Liebestod” from Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

Kantorow's 2024 "Brahms-Schubert" received the Gramophone's Piano Award 2025.

Style In 2019, Kantorow was described as a "pale young man with cat-like eyes and long, diaphanous fingers". The Gramophone called him a "fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm" Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S.124; Malédiction, S.121 Op. 452; Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S.125 Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28; Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919 Version) (arr. for piano by Guido Agosti); Tchaikovsky: Pieces (2) for piano, Op. 1; Balakirev: Islamey - Oriental Fantasy

Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79/1; Piano Sonata No. 2 in F♯ minor, Op. 2; Bartók: Rhapsody, Op. 1; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 Johannes Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3, Chaconne & Four Ballades Brahms: Ballades (4), Op. 10; Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5; Studies (5), Anh.1a / 1: Chaconne von JS Bach Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22; Wedding Cake, Op. 76; Allegro appassionato, Op. 70; Piano Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 17; Rhapsodie d’Auvergne, Op. 73; Africa, Op. 89 Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1; Liszt: Der Wanderer, S. 558 / 11 (After Schubert, D. 489); Der Müller und der Bach, S. 565 / 2 (After Schubert, D. 795 / 19); Frühlingsglaube, S. 558 / 7 (After Schubert, D. 686); Die Stadt, S. 560 / 1 (After Schubert, D. 957 / 11); Am Meer, S. 560 / 4 (After Schubert, D. 957 / 12); Schubert: Fantasy in C Major, "Wanderer Fantasy", D 760 Korngold: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35; Strauss: Violin Sonata in E-flat, Op. 18