Born in Batumi, Georgia in 1987, this Georgian-French pianist began piano lessons at the age of three. At six, she gave her first concert with the Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra and by the ago of 10 was already performing abroad. She studied in Tiflis and Vienna and for many years has been performing with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC and London Symphony Orchestras, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Filarmonica della Scala and the Vienna Philharmonic as well as with many other top-class ensembles. She is also a regular guest performer at major festivals and in renowned concert halls across the world.

Following her Carnegie Hall debut in 2008, she gave concerts at the BBC Proms, the Salzburg Festival, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad and with the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano. In addition, Khatia Buniatishvili has worked with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Plácido Domingo, Kent Nagano and Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as many others. As a recitalist, this pianist has appeared in many of the world’s major concert halls including the Royal Festival Hall London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Tonhalle Zürich.

Her latest CD with Sony Classical – ›Labyrinth‹ – was released in October 2020. In 2016 and 2012 she was awarded an Echo Klassik.

The Estonian conductor and Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi has served as Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen since 2004. One of the many highlights of this long standing collaboration was the widely acclaimed Beethoven cycle, whose performances were celebrated by critics around the world and honoured with numerous awards, including the Echo Klassik for “Conductor of the Year.” The Beethoven project was followed by an intensive exploration of the symphonic works of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms; both cycles likewise received multiple distinctions. Since autumn 2021, the orchestra has turned its focus to Joseph Haydn’s twelve London Symphonies, followed in 2024 by an in depth engagement with the symphonies of Franz Schubert.

Since the 2019/20 season, Paavo Järvi has also served as Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Starting with the 2028/29 season, Järvi will assume the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra and the Pärnu Music Festival, which he established in 2011. As a guest conductor, he regularly appears with leading orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, Paavo Järvi was named Artist of the Year by both Gramophone magazine (UK) and Diapason (France). This was followed in 2019 by the Opus Klassik award for Conductor of the Year. Further honours include a Grammy Award for his recording of Sibelius’ Cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the title Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. In recognition of his commitment to promoting the music of Jean Sibelius, he received the Sibelius Medal in 2015, and in 2012 he was awarded the Hindemith Prize for Art and Humanity. For his dedication to Estonian culture, Paavo Järvi was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013, and in 2024 he received the Bremen Senate Medal for Art and Science.