Louis Schwizgebel

Schwizgebel has performed with many orchestras across the globe including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Zurich Tonhalle, Nagoya and Shanghai Philharmonic orchestras, Utah Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NYC) amongst others. He has worked with conductors such as Gardner, Gražynite-Tyla, Krivine, Collon, Thierry Fischer, Weilerstein, Shani, Ticciati, Slatkin, Langrée, Gaffigan, Rouvali and Gabel amongst others.

Schwizgebel performs regularly in his native Switzerland, both in recital and with the symphony and chamber orchestras; he has played in the major festivals including Progetto Martha Argerich, Menuhin Festival Gstaad and Verbier Festival and in 2016 made his debut at the Lucerne Festival. In 2014 he made his BBC Proms debut with an electrifying televised performance of Prokofiev’s First Concerto and recent recital highlights include performances at London’s Wigmore Hall, Festival de Radio France, Klavierfest Ruhr, Rheingau Festival, Fribourg International Piano Series, Munich’s Herkulesaal and on tour across Hong Kong and China including in Beijing and Shanghai.

Highlights of Schwizgebel’s 18/19 season include debuts with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Ulster Orchestra and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and returns to the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur. Chamber music highlights include his debut at the International Music Festival Koblenz and returns to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall where he appears in three concerts across the season, both in recital and in trio with Benjamin Beilman and Narek Hakhnazaryan.

Schwizgebel records for Aparté and recently released a solo disc of Schubert Sonatas D845 and D958. His recording of Saint-Saens’s Piano Concertos 2 and 5 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra received wide and critical acclaim, with BBC Music Magazine describing his playing as “gorgeously singing and wonderfully delicate”. Of his recording of Beethoven’s First and Second Piano Concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra Gramophone magazine described Schwizgebel’s performance as a “beautifully nuanced account” and his solo disc, Poems, featuring works by Ravel, Liszt, Holliger and Schubert was given four stars by Germany’s Fono Forum who hailed Schwizgebel “a genuine virtuoso, a spirited young genius with real depth”.

Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, and then later at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Pascal Nemirovski.

Schwizgebel is grateful for the support he has received from the Migros Culture Percentage, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund and Animato Foundation.

2017/18 biography / 510 words. Not to be altered without permission.