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 international attention by winning second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Competition. Since then, he has pursued an active career comprised of major concerto and recital performances throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.
An exclusive EMI recording artist, Mr. Vogt has made fifteen discs for the label. These include the Schumann and Grieg concertos and the first two Beethoven concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Sir Simon Rattle. Mr. Vogt has also made seven solo recordings of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky. Last season, EMI released a double disc of solo Mozart and a three disc set of the complete Brahms Duo Sonatas. His most recent concerto release is Hindemith's Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado.
For the 2003-04 season Mr. 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 Piano Concerto No. 1 with Sir Simon Rattle in Salzburg and Berlin. Other major orchestral appearances over the past three seasons have included the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra; abroad, he has appeared with the NHK Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Philharmonic, Bayerische Staatsorchester and Santa Cecilia in Rome. In Spring 2008 he joined the Dresden Staatskapelle and Myung-Whun Chung on their European tour of eleven major cities featuring Dresden, Vienna, Budapest, Paris and Brussels. His recent performance of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 at the BBC Proms was so well received that the UK Guardian deemed him "one of the greatest of all Brahmsians".
In the 2008-09 season, Mr. Vogt appears with the Houston Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony. Abroad, he appears with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, London Symphony, Philharmonia, Zurich Tonhalle, Danish National Radio and RAI Turin Orchestras and gives recitals in London, Paris, Madrid and Istanbul. A tour with the Ensemble Wien Berlin to celebrate their 25th anniversary takes him to London, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna and Lucerne.
In addition to his success as an orchestral soloist, Mr. Vogt is a renowned recitalist and chamber musician. Recent recital appearances include Chicago, Rome, London, and Madrid. 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 (with whom he appears regularly in the United States and abroad), and collaborates with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher.
