Biography —

Moscow-born concert pianist Andrey Gugnin is rapidly gaining international acclaim as a passionately virtuosic performer, who possesses an ‘extraordinarily versatile and agile technique, which serves an often inspired musical imagination’ (Gramophone). Winner of the 2020 BBC Music Magazine Instrumental category for his recording of the Shostakovich preludes and piano sonatas on Hyperion; and prize winner of the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition, 2024 ‘Classic Piano’ International Piano Competition, and 2023 International German Piano Award, Andrey has gone from strength to strength in concerts and recordings which exhibit his impassioned interpretations.

In demand as a concert soloist, Andrey has been invited to perform as a guest artist with notable orchestras across the globe, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Andrey has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Carnegie Hall in New York, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Sydney Opera House, the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, Mariinsky Concert Hall, the Louvre in Paris, and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. Andrey has also appeared at a number of international festivals, including the Verbier, Ruhr Piano, Mariinsky International, Dubrovnik Summer, Ohrid Summer, and International Chopin festivals.

As a recording artist, Andrey has published a broad scope of repertoire, ranging from solo piano, chamber works, and concertos. His release of Liszt’s Transcendental Studies (Piano Classics, 2018) was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. His recording of Shostakovich concertos (Delos International, 2007) was featured in the soundtrack of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film Bridge of Spies. His most recent disc, Tchaikovsky & Stravinsky: Russian Ballet Suites will be released in September 2025 on the Hyperion Label.

In February 2024, Andrey won the ‘Classic Piano’ International Piano Competition awarding him a prize of €100,000 for his final performance of Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto. Further winnings include future performances with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and the Armenian State Symphony.

Andrey took his first lessons with Natalia Smirnova, who laid the foundations for his studies with Olga Mechetina, Valery Kastelsky, Lev Naumov, Stanislav Ioudenitch, William Naboré and Vera Gornostayeva.

Highlights of Andrey’s 2024/2025 season include performances with orchestras such as La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Del Teatro Goldoni, and most recently in June 2025, with the Johannesburg Philharmonic and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic as part of his tour in South Africa. For 2025/2026, he will return to New York as part of the Bard Music Festival and will also be undertaking a tour across Japan and Australia.