Giorgi Gigashvili
Piano

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2000, Giorgi took his first piano lessons without ever thinking about becoming a professional pianist. Passionate about singing and arranging Georgian folk and pop songs, he successfully competed in various Georgian singing contests at the age of 12. He did however continue his formal musical training at the Paliashvili Central Music School for Gifted Children and at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, under the guidance of Revaz Tavadze.

Everyone has an idol, and for Giorgi it has always been Martha Argerich. His pianistic career’s turning point came about in April 2019 when he won the 1st Prize at the Vigo International Piano Competition, where Martha Argerich chaired the jury with Nelson Freire at her side. Some months later Giorgi also won the Third Prize and the Audience Prize at the 62nd Busoni International Piano Competition.

The outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic obliged him to remain in Georgia, where he began to write electronic music and songs which have become extremely popular.

2021, on the other hand, offered a fresh stimulus for Giorgi’s other calling, the classical piano: the Hortense Anda-Bührle Bursary, awarded to him at the 15th Géza Anda Piano Competition in Zurich, brought him an invitation to the KlavierOlymp in the German town of Bad Kissingen, where he won the 1st Prize as well as the Audience Prize. At the same time, he joined Nelson Goerner’s class at the Geneva University of Music.

Giorgi is supported by Martha Argerich for his studies in Geneva, by the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation and the Géza Anda-Foundation. In the 2022/2023 season, he is an artist in the Classeek Ambassador Program; from 2023 he will also be sponsored by Bayer Culture as part of the stARTacademy.