Georgijs Osokins

PIANO

Georgijs Osokins gained international attention through his participation at age of 19 in the 2015 Chopin Competition where his performances received either superlatives or led to controversy. 

He was a clear audience favourite and the most discussed competitor when he was dubbed by critics as “exceptional and unpredictable.” Even before the finals, he walked away with opportunities often reserved just for prizewinners as concert invitations started pouring in for a solo recital at the prestigious “Chopin and His Europe” festival in Warsaw and for his first tour of Japan, as well as invitations from three continents for concerts and recordings. 
These included performances at the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Hall, Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow and recitals in Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. 

Osokins made important debuts at the Berlin Konzerthaus (Berlin, Germany) and the Vancouver Playhouse where he replaced outstanding pianist Nelson Freire. Also, UK’s label “Piano Classics” released Georgijs’ debut CD album of Chopin’s Late Works. This recording received rave reviews from important Canadian, German and French music magazines. 

In 2019 Osokins continued to debut at prestigious venues: Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, International Piano Series in Bern and at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Lockenhaus Festival, Onkagudo Hall in Japan, Tongyeong Hall in South Korea. In 2020 German label Accentus has released the first chamber music album of Georgijs alongside Gidon Kremer containing trios of Chopin and Beethoven – this CD received excellent reviews worldwide and was nominated for International Classical Music Awards 2020.

In 2021 Osokins makes his debut at the legendary Salzburg Festival.

Since 2018 Georgijs has been collaborating with Gidon Kremer performing Chopin’s chamber music, works by Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Weinberg and Silvestrov, touring in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Poland, Germany, Asia and US. Alongside with Lucas Debargue, Georgijs was announced the first permanent Guest Artist of Kremerata Baltica in its 22-year history by Gidon Kremer. In May 2019 the second album of Georgijs was released by Piano Classics which is entirely dedicated to works of Sergei Rachmaninoff. This album received brilliant reviews from Pizzicato, Gramophone, France Musique, Danish Radio and others.

Born into a family of predominantly pianists, Georgijs Osokins began his studies with his father, Professor Sergejs Osokins, a prominent teacher and pianist in Latvia.  He moved to The Juilliard School of Music to work with Sergei Babayan and later returned to Europe to study under Georg Friedrich Schenck in Germany. Georgijs took private lessons from Valery Afanassiev, Sir Andràs Schiff, Dmitri Bashkirov and Oleg Maisenberg.

Osokins’ successes include winning top prizes in both the 9th International Moscow Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (2014) and the 9th Alexander Scriabin International Competition in Paris (2009). He also won First Prize at the Manhattan International Music Competition in 2018 (New York, USA). 

Georgijs Osokins has received the Latvian Grand Music Award, which is the highest honor in the music industry of Latvia, making him the youngest recipient in the history of the Awards. In November 2018 Georgijs received the Cross of Merit (Silver grade) awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland.

Since his public debut with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10, Osokins has appeared with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Taiwan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo New City Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia. He shared stage with Gidon Kremer, Giedre Dirvanauskaite, Sergei Nakariakov, Nicolas Altstaedt, Yulianna Avdeeva, Andrey Boreyko, Lio Kuokman etc.

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