Czech Philharmonic • Antwerp

Described by The Times as the “master of all he surveys” and with The Washington Post noting to “keep your ear on this one”, Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov’s captivating performances continue to receive international praise. At just 18 years of age, he won the prestigious London International Piano Competition and has since performed with leading orchestras around the world (the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, and others). In recent seasons, he has also collaborated with many prominent conductors, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, Constantinos Carydis, Edward Gardner, Long Yu, Juraj Valčuha, and others. In the fall of 2022, he performed with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – he even recorded this piece in 2020 on the composer’s own piano from Villa Senar in Switzerland for Sony Classical.

The 2025/2026 season, Behzod Abduraimov made a number of notable debuts, including with the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., in both cases under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. Other concert appearances included the Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In terms of recitals, the highlight of the season were his fourth appearance at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium (he made his debut there in 2015), a return to Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and other performances in the United States and Europe. In the past, he has performed in many prestigious international recital series organized by the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, La Società dei Concerti di Milano, and Toppan Hall in Tokyo. He also regularly performs at leading international festivals, including Aspen, La Roque Antheron, Lucerne, Ravello, Rheingau, and Verbier. In September 2025, he opened the Georgian Tsinandali Festival with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. 

Abduraimov’s recordings are highly acclaimed – his 2012 debut recital CD featuring works by Liszt, Saint-Saëns, and Prokofiev won the prestigious French Choc de Classica and Diapason Découverte awards. He also pays special attention to promoting Uzbek music – on his latest album, Shadows of My Ancestors, released in 2024, he presented, among other things, the work of Uzbek composer Dilorom Saidaminova.

Born in Tashkent in 1990 Behzod began to play the piano at the age of five. He was a pupil of Tamara Popovich at the Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent and studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University, Kansas City, where he is now Artist in Residence and passes on his experience to younger generations of pianists.

In 2018 Bychkovʼs tenure as Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic was initiated with concerts in Prague, London, New York, and Washington celebrating the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovak independence. 2019 marked the culmination of The Tchaikovsky Project: concerts, residencies and recordings of Tchaikovskyʼs symphonies. For 2024ʼs Year of Czech Music, in addition to recordings of Smetanaʼs Má vlast – voted by BBC Music Magazine as Orchestral Recording of the Year 2025 – and Dvořákʼs Symphonies 7, 8 and 9, Czech music was at the centre of extensive European tours as well as concerts in the US, including three concerts at Carnegie Hall. Earlier this season, Bychkov toured with the Orchestra to Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Austria, Italy, Germany and Luxembourg. In April 2026, PENTATONE released the box set of Mahler symphonies recorded with the Orchestra since 2018.

In the 2026/2027 season, Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic return to repertoire that has accompanied him since the beginning of his career. Alongside Czech music, he will focus above all on the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Modest Mussorgsky. The programmes of the 131st season thus connect the music of his native country with the Czech tradition at the centre of his work in Prague.

He is a frequent guest with the leading international orchestras and opera companies and has recorded extensively including with the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio, Concertgebouworkest, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris. Benchmark recordings with WDR Cologne include the four Brahms Symphonies, in addition to works by Strauss, Mahler, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, Glanert and Höller. His 1992 recording of Tchaikovskyʼs Eugene Onegin was the recommended recording for BBC Radio 3ʼs Building a Library (2020); Wagnerʼs Lohengrin was BBC Music Magazineʼs Record of the Year (2010); and Schmidtʼs Symphony No. 2 with the Vienna Philharmonic was BBC Music Magazineʼs Record of the Month (2018).

In common with the Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov has one foot firmly in the culture of the East and the other in the West. Born in St Petersburg in 1952, he emigrated to the United States in 1975 and is now based in Europe. In 1989 Bychkov returned to the former Soviet Union as Principal Guest Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic and, the same year, was named Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 1997, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, and in 1998, Chief Conductor of the Dresden Semperoper. In summer 2025, Bychkov returned to Bayreuth to conduct Wagnerʼs Tristan und Isolde, and conducted the premiere of a new production of Tchaikovskyʼs Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opera in January 2026. In the 2026/2027 season he also returns to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London.

Bychkov was named ‘Conductor of the Yearʼ by the International Opera Awards (2015) and, by Musical America (2022). He holds honorary titles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music. From 1 August 2026, Bychkov is Music Director Designate of the Paris Opera, assuming the title of Music Director in 2028.