Louis Lortie

French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has attracted critical acclaim throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. He has extended his interpretative voice across a broad range of repertoire rather than choosing to specialize in one particular style.  As both pianist and conductor with the Montreal Symphony, he has performed all five Beethoven concertos and all of the Mozart concertos. He performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montreal for the BBC and CBC, and is renowned all over the world for his performances of the complete Chopin etudes. He celebrated the bicentenary of Liszt's birth in 2011 by performing the complete Années de pèlerinage at international music capitals and festivals. His Chandos recording of this monumental work was named one of the ten best of 2012 by the New Yorker magazine. He has made more than 40 recordings for the Chandos label, covering repertoire from Mozart to Stravinsky and Lutoslawski.

Louis Lortie studied in Montreal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of the legendary Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher. He made his debut with the Montreal Symphony at the age of 13, and three years later his first appearance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra led to an historic tour of the People's Republic of China and Japan. He regularly performs with the Leeds International Competition.