Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has since gone on to give major concerto and recital performances throughout Europe, Asia and North America.
An EMI recording artist, Lars Vogt has made fifteen discs for the label. These include Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado and Schumann, Grieg and the first two Beethoven Concerti with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as "one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with". Vogt has also made several solo and chamber recordings for EMI. In Spring 2008 he released recordings of solo Schubert works for Avi and Mozart Concerti with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and Ivor Bolton for Oehms.
For the 2003/4 season Lars Vogt was appointed the first ever "Pianist in Residence" for the Berlin Philharmonic, devising four chamber programmes with members of the orchestra and performing Beethoven 1 with Sir Simon Rattle in Salzburg and Berlin. Other major orchestras over the past three seasons have included the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, NHK Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Philharmonic, Bayerische Staatsorchester, Dresden Staatskapelle and Santa Cecilia in Rome.
During the 2008/9 season Lars Vogt performed Brahms at the BBC Proms and Mozart at the Salzburg Festival. In Germany he appeared twice with the Berlin Philharmonic and toured with the Czech Philharmonic. Other concerto engagements included Vienna Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony, Philharmonia, Zurich Tonhalle, Danish National Radio, Swedish Radio and RAI Turin. In Asia he performed with the Seoul Philharmonic and in Tokyo and Beijing with the Salzburg Mozarteum.
This season Lars Vogt returns once again to the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. He opens the Paris season for the Orchestre Philharmonique de France with their Music Director Myung-Whun Chung and partners Thomas Quasthoff in recital in Salzburg and Lucerne. Other chamber appearances feature Rome, Philadelphia and New York and in North America he re-visits the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony. In January 2010 Lars Vogt is a featured guest artist at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg where his concerts will include Mozart Concerti with the Vienna Philharmonic and Christoph Eschenbach and with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding. Other concerto engagements this season include Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra, National Orchestra of Spain, Warsaw Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic.
Lars Vogt enjoys a high profile as a recitalist and chamber musician and recent appearances include London, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Rome, Istanbul and New York. In June 1998 he founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany. Known as “Spannungen”, its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. He enjoys regular partnerships with colleagues such as Christian Tetzlaff and collaborates occasionally with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher. He has also initiated an education project in Germany, called “Rhapsody in School”.
