Elisabeth Leonskaja

Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Russian pianist born in Tbilisi, has long been among the most celebrated pianists of our times. While still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, she won prizes at major international piano competitions, including the Enescu Prize, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition and the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Prize. Her musical development was decisively influenced by her collaboration and friendship with Sviatoslav Richter. 

Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and made Vienna her home. Since then, she has performed as soloist with the world’s finest orchestras and has worked with many renowned conductors. She is a regular guest at numerous international festivals, such as those in Vienna, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwarzenberg and Hohenems. Her name is also to be found among international recitalists in the most prominent piano series of major musical centers of the world from Paris to Vienna to Melbourne. In addition to her many solo engagements, chamber music remains an important part of her work.

In her second homeland, Austria, she is an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 2006 she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, for her outstanding service to the culture of the country. It is the highest award in Austria. In Georgia, she was named Priestess of Art in 2016, this country’s highest artistic honor. In 2020 she received the International Classical Music (ICMA) Lifetime Achievement Award.