Freddy Kempf

Freddy Kempf is one of today’s most successful pianists performing to sell-out audiences all over the world.
Exceptionally gifted with an unusually broad repertoire, Freddy has built a unique reputation as an explosive and
physical performer who is not afraid to take risks as well as a serious, sensitive and profoundly musical artist.
Born in London in 1977, Freddy made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 8 and
further came to national prominence in 1992 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. In 1998,
his award of third, rather than first, prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow provoked
protests from the audience and an outcry in the Russian press, which proclaimed him “the hero of the competition”.
Freddy has collaborated with conductors such as Järvi, Dutoit, Sawallisch, Sanderling, Chailly, Ashkenazy, Petrenko,
Oramo, Davis, Belohlavek, Temirkanov, Altinoglu, and Dausgaard, and has worked with some of the world’s most
prestigious ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, La Scala
Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchester and the
Dresden Philharmonic. A committed recitalist, Freddy has appeared in many of the world’s most important concert
halls including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Milan’s Sala Verdi, the
Concertgebouw, London’s Cadogan and Barbican, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo’s
Suntory Hall.

Highlight’s of Freddy’s soloist career includes his 2018 debut at the BBC Proms and an extensive Asian tour including
performances at the Seoul Arts Centre, PyeongChang Music Festival, and Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall. Freddy
has also featured as a touring soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony,
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, and has play/directed a tour of Beethoven’s 3rd and 5th piano
concertos with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
As a prolific recording artist, Freddy’s most recent albums includes both the BIS Records’ 2019 release of Prokofiev
sonatas and the 2015 release of Freddy’s Tchaikovsky recital which received great critical acclaim. His 2010 recording of
Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton was nominated for
the Gramophone Concerto Award with the associated magazine describing the collaborative duo as “a masterful
Prokofievian pair”. This partnership was followed by the 2012 recording of Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra,
and was described in the press as “beautiful, stylish, light, and elegant… magnificent”. Meanwhile, Freddy’s 2011 solo
recital disc of works by Rachmaninov, Bach/Busoni, Ravel and Stravinsky, was praised by BBC Music Magazine for its
“wonderful delicate playing and fine sense of style”.

The 2024/25 season saw Freddy Kempf perform concerts in Germany, Italy and Japan and recitals at the Seoul Winter
Festival in Korea. This season will begin with a series of concerts playing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the
Neubrandenburger Philharmonie in Germany, followed by a UK tour with the Brno Philharmonic and Dennis Russell
Davies (performing Dave Brubeck’s Brandenburg Gate Revisited), and the Malta Philharmonic (playing Rachmaninov’s
Piano Concerto No.2), under Sergey Smbatyan. The season will also feature recitals in Italy, Japan, Korea, and a
performance with the Canterbury Symphony Orchestra.
Freddy is based in Germany with his family and is a keyboard professor at Munich City Music School. He is a Patron of
the Canterbury Symphony Orchestra.