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Myung Whun Chung, Sir Simon Rattle, Mst-
slav Rostropovich, Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, Christoph von Dohnányi and Eu-
gene Ormandy.
Mr Katsaris has recorded extensively for
Teldec (Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Cho-
pin, Warsaw 1985; Grand Prix du Disque Franz
Liszt, Budapest 1984 and 1989; British Music
Retailer’s Association’s Award 1986; Record
of the Year 1984, Germany, for the
9
th
Sym-
phony
of Beethoven/Liszt), Sony Classical,
EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG-RCA,
Decca, Pavane and for his own label, PIANO
21, which he founded in 2001.
In 1992, Mr Katsaris and Japan’s NHK TV
produced a thirteen-program series on Frédéric
Chopin which included master classes and a
performance by Mr Katsaris. On 17 October
1999, New York concert goers gave Mr Kat-
saris a standing ovation in Carnegie Hall for a
recital dedicated to Chopin on the occasion of
150 years since Chopin’s death.
On 27 January 2006, the 250
th
anniversary of
Mozart’s birth, Mr Katsaris was the soloist at
the inaugural concert of the Mozart Orchestra
Mannheim, founded and conducted by Thomas
Fey. In March 2006 Mr Katsaris was the first
pianist ever to give master classes in Franz
Liszt’s house in Weimar since Liszt, who taught
there for the very last time in 1886, the year he
died. In August 2008, Mr Katsaris was invited to
give two concerts on the occasion of the Beijing
Olympic Games at the National Centre for the
Performing Arts. In addition to the world pre-
miere of a concerto for ten pianos and orchestra
–
China Jubilee
– by composer Cui Shiguang, Mr
Katsaris improvised on an ancient Greek melody
and, inter alia, Chinese melodies, in a tribute to
the universality of the Games.
Mr Katsaris has been a member of the jury
at the following international competitions:
Chopin (Warsaw 1990), Liszt (Utrecht 1996),
Vendôme Prize (Paris 2000), Marguerite Long-
Jacques Thibaud – Ville de Paris (2001), and
Beethoven (Bonn 2005). He was the Artistic
Director of the Echternach International Festi-
val (Luxembourg) from 1977 to 2007.
Cyprien Katsaris has been “Artist of UNESCO
for Peace” (1997), “Commandeur de l’Ordre
de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg”
(2009), “Knight of the Order ofArts and Letters”
(France 2000), and “Knight of Merit of Camer-
oon” (1977); he also received the “Vermeil Med-
al of the City of Paris” (2001). He is a member
of ADAP, the Association of Artists for Peace.
Martino Tirimo
Born into a musical family in Larnaca in 1942,
Mr Tirimo began piano and violin lessons with
his father, a distinguished conductor and violin-
ist, in early childhood. He gave his first concert
at the age of six and
conducted seven complete
performances of Verdi’s
La Traviata
, including
soloists from La Scala, Milano, at the tender
age of 12.
In 1955 the Tirimo family immigrated to Lon-
don, where the young Tirimo continued his
education at Bedales School. At the age of six-
teen he won the Franz Liszt Scholarship to the
Royal Academy of Music, graduating with the
highest honours, after which he completed his
studies in Vienna. He later worked closely with
Gordon Green, whom he regards as his great-
est mentor. Victories in the International Piano
Competitions in Munich and Geneva, in 1971
and 1972, respectively, launched his interna-
tional career.
Mr Tirimo has appeared with many of the
world’s leading orchestras, including the Vi-
enna Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle,
the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Bayerischer
Rundffunk, the London Symphony, the London
Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Cleveland, the
Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Cham-
“I am convinced that Cyprien
Katsaris represents the greatest
artistic value of his generation”.
György Cziffra