Associate Artist
Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is delighted to announce acclaimed pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout as our Associate Artist from 2025.
From our first rehearsal with Kristian Bezuidenhout, we all knew that we had met a truly great artist and someone we hoped to build a deeper creative partnership with. From there we initiated our Beethoven piano concerto cycle, which continues this season when we perform concertos 2 and 4 in June. He is one of the great players of his generation in this repertoire, an inspiring partner for our musicians, and he has a great rapport with our audiences around Ireland. We are looking forward to nurturing this partnership in future seasons.
Kristian Bezuidenhout has established himself as one of the most versatile and exciting musicians of our time, both as a keyboard player and conductor. Born in South Africa in 1979, he began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), and now lives in London. After initial training as a modern pianist with Rebecca Penneys, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Kristian first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize and audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition.
Kristian is a regular guest soloist on fortepiano, harpsichord, modern piano with the world’s leading ensembles including Freiburger Barockorchester, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Mozarteum Orchester, Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Bernhard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Giovanni Antonini, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alina Ibragimova, Rachel Podger, Carolyn Sampson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore & Matthias Goerne.
In addition to his work as a soloist, he is increasingly in demand as a conductor, and continues explore the music of the late 17th and early 18th Centuries with groups including the English Concert (Handel Chandos Anthems, Purcell Odes, Bach St. John Passion), Tafelmusik, Collegium Vocale, Juilliard 415, Kammerakademie Potsdam & Dunedin Consort (Bach St Matthew Passion). Kristian is Principal Guest Director of both Freiburger Barockorchester and English Concert.
